Réponses du réseau capillaire du muscle squelettique à l’entraînement

Objectives – There are now experimental evidences about the growth of capillary bed in response to increased functional load in skeletal muscle such as physical exercise. The objective of this review is to discuss the present state of our knowledge on the adaptive responses of the capillary bed to physical training.Topics – The skeletal muscle is known to respond to physical training and the adaptive response of the microcirculation in mammals is the high capillarity observed in trained skeletal muscles. The increase in the capillary bed after endurance training results mainly from angiogenesis, and only for a short part from changes in the capillary tortuosity. Capillary growth involves several molecular factors ; some are expressed and induced by alterations in local oxygen pressure. The specific role played by mechanical factors and shear stress for capillary growth stimulation remains the matter of debate.Future prospects – A better knowledge of molecular mechanisms involved in capillary growth is an important stage to examine the general responses to physical training. Researches on exercise-induced capillary growth have many important practical consequences, especially on therapeutic domain.