Capillary neoformation in the rat heart-stereological studies on papillary muscles in hypertrophy and physiologic growth

Summary Stereological investigations on myocardial capillaries provided evidence that the common estimator of capillarity, the capillary density (i.c., number of capillary profiles per unit transverse sectional area), underestimates the true capillary supply since the capillary axes are not oriented perfectly in parallel to the myofiber axes. Recently, we studied the true capillarity, i.c., the length density of capillaries (L_v=capillary length per capillary volume), in some experimental models of cardiac hypertrophy which have been published elsewhere. It has been shown that L_v decreases in renovascular hypertension, but is maintained in physical exercise and after chronic thyroxin application. However, the growth pattern of capillaries in hypertrophic hearts has not yet been analyzed. In the present paper it is demonstrated that important information on the capillary network can be derived from the two-dimensional capillary-to-fiber ratios (2D CFR: capillary profiles per myofiber profiles in transverse sections) and from the three-dimensional capillary-to-fiber ratios (3D CFR: capillary length per unit myofiber length). Increase in both suggests neoformation of additional capillary branches in parallel connection. Retrospective analysis of the quantitative data indicates that in hypertrophy induced by physical exercise or by chronic thyroxin application capillary neoformation in parallel connection counterbalances increase of oxygen diffusion distance due to myofiber enlargement. In renovascular hypertension, capillary neoformation in parallel connection does not occur. Studies on normal growth indicated both a slight decrease of L_v of capillaries, as well as a continuous neoformation of additional capillary branches.