Epo Is Relevant Neither for Microvascular Formation Nor for the New Formation and Maintenance of Mice Skeletal Muscle Fibres in Both Normoxia and Hypoxia
Table 4
Indices of the microvascular supply and morphological data of gastrocnemius muscle fibers in normoxia (Nx), and after exposure to chronic hypoxia for 14 days (CHx) ( = 5 in each group).
Nx
CHx
Superficial region
Deep region
Superficial region
Deep region
WT
Epo-TA
WT
Epo-TA
WT
Epo-TA
WT
Epo-TA
Global microvessel indices
CD (cap/mm²)
546 ± 174
611 ± 95
1699 ± 350
1587 ± 180
601 ± 105
624 ± 81
1845 ± 393
1701 ± 211
1.33 ± 0.16
1.70± 0.17*
2.23 ± 0.29
2.69 ± 0.29*
1.27 ± 0.15
1.65 ± 0.26*
2.28 ± 0.20
2.62 ± 0.29*
Individual fiber microvessels indices
CC
2.89 ± 0.63
3.57 ± 0.56*
5.20 ± 0.78
6.27 ± 0.54*
2.95 ± 0.16
3.54 ± 0.46*
5.22 ± 0.82
6.19 ± 0.41*
/
1.05 ± 0.11
1.37 ± 0.21*
2.16 ± 0.26
2.46 ± 0.35*
1.09 ± 0.13
1.34 ± 0.20*
2.15 ± 0.19
2.58 ± 0.21*
LC/PF (%)
8.96 ± 1.26
11.9 ± 0.93*
30.2 ± 7.3
35.4 ± 8.7
10.2 ± 1.84
12.56 ± 0.82*
32.5 ± 8.0
37.0 ± 3.90
Morphological data of muscle fibers
FA (m²)
2521 ± 286
2411 ± 188
1259 ± 158
1494 ± 165
2189 ± 314
2499 ± 204
1232 ± 246
1361 ± 133
PF (m)
215 ± 17
222 ± 21
160 ± 16
173 ± 14
198 ± 13
220 ± 7
153 ± 18
165 ± 11
Form factor
0.63 ± 0.02
0.63 ± 0.03
0.64 ± 0.06
0.64 ± 0.03
0.62 ± 0.02
0.63 ± 0.02
0.65 ± 0.04
0.65 ± 0.04
Values are means ± SD; Main effect of Epo deficiency: significantly different from WT group: . CD: capillary density; : capillary-to-fiber ratio; CC: number of capillaries around single fibers; /: individual capillary-to-fiber ratio; LC/PF: length of the contact between microvessels and the fiber/perimeter of the fibers; FA: fiber area; PF: perimeter.
