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1 Department of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093-0623; and 2 Department of Biology, University of Joensuu, 80101 Joensuu, Finland
The objective was to examine fiber
capillarization in relation to fiber mitochondrial volume in the highly
aerobic diaphragm of the shrew, the smallest mammal. The
diaphragms of four common shrews [Sorex araneus; body mass,
8.2 ± 1.3 (SE) g] and four lesser shrews (Sorex
minutus, 2.6 ± 0.1 g) were perfusion fixed in
situ, processed for electron microscopy, and analyzed by morphometry. Capillary length per fiber volume was extremely high, at values of
8,008 ± 1,054 and 12,332 ± 625 mm
2 in
S. araneus and S. minutus, respectively (P
= 0.012), with no difference in capillary geometry between the two
species. Fiber mitochondrial volume density was 28.5 ± 2.3%
(S. araneus) and 36.5 ± 1.4% (S. minutus;
P = 0.025), yielding capillary length per milliliter
mitochondria values (S. araneus, 27.8 ± 1.5 km; S. minutus, 33.9 ± 2.2 km; P = 0.06)
as high as in the flight muscle of the hummingbird and small bats. The
size of the capillary-fiber interface (i.e., capillary surface per
fiber surface ratio) per fiber mitochondrial volume in shrew diaphragm
was also as high as in bird and bat flight muscles, and it was about
two times greater than in rat hindlimb muscle. Thus, whereas fiber
capillary and mitochondrial volume densities decreased with increased
body mass in S. araneus compared with S. minutus
Soricinae shrews, fiber capillarization per milliliter mitochondria in
both species was much higher than previously reported for shrew
diaphragm, and it matched that of the intensely aerobic flight muscles
of birds and mammals.
capillary-fiber interface; capillary anisotropy; capillary shape; ultrastructure; morphometry
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