Advancing age alters the structural and functional determinants of convective and diffusive
muscle oxygen (O2) flux. However, capillary red blood cell (RBC) hemodynamics have not
been investigated during contractions in muscles of old animals. Therefore, we tested the
hypothesis that aging induces significant capillary hemodynamic alterations during
electrically-induced contractions in the spinotrapezius muscle of old Fischer 344× Brown
Norway rats when compared to younger counterparts. The spinotrapezius muscle was …