Effect of Intensive Walking Exercise on Skeletal Muscle Blood Flow in Intermittent Claudication

Abstract

Walking exercise is generally accepted as a valid therapeutic regimen in the treatment of peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD) of Fontaine stage II. In order to quantify the effect of walking exercise and/or drug therapy on regional muscular blood flow, PAOD Fontaine stage II was induced by multiple ligations of the femoral artery and of all side branches in one hindlimb of mongrel dogs; the contralateral extremity served as control. The animals underwent walking exercise with increasing intensities on a tread mill five days per week over one year; one group received 600 mg buflomedil (BF) per day orally in addition. At the end of the training period, the regional blood flow in all skeletal muscles of both hindlimbs was quantified by means of 15 μm radioactively labeled microspheres at resting conditions, after treadmill exercise (ten minutes) with or without preinjection of BF (3 mg/kg body weight) into the abdominal aorta. At resting condition and at the end of treadmill exercise the regional muscular blood flow did not differ significantly between the diseased and control extremity Supplementary oral treatment with BF over one year had no significant effect; the increase in muscular blood flow during treadmill exercise was not enhanced after intra- aortic injection of BE Consequently walking exercise has the potential to increase the functional capacity of collaterals in intermittent claudication and to restore blood supply to skeletal muscle.