Capillary-to-fiber ratio of hind limb muscles in the male Syrian golden hamster

The hamster has been the accepted model of emphysema since the 1970s, demonstrating disease-related effects on respiratory skeletal muscle. However, there is scant information available about the model's ability to replicate the peripheral skeletal muscle changes seen in human disease, such as alterations in capillarity. The present study described the capillary-to-fiber ratio (C/F) of normal hamster plantaris, gastrocnemius, and soleus muscles in eight animals. C/F was 1.72 +/- 0.38 for plantaris, 1.95 +/- 0.40 for gastrocnemius, and 2.22 +/- 0.43 for soleus. C/F of soleus was significantly greater (P < 0.01) than plantaris. The C/F of hamster hindlimb muscles varies from those seen in rat species, and having baseline data on hamsters makes it possible to determine the effects of emphysema on C/F in this model.