To explore in detail the relationships between basal lamina (BL) and regenerating cells, we have studied the reconstruction of skeletal muscle fibers and their associated capillaries in portions of rat and rabbit skeletal muscles after injury with either freezing, ischemia, Where an old layer of BL is present overlying a newly formed layer, the old layer may be retained or it may be removed . Removal of redundant BL is probably mediated by interstitial cells which embrace the outside surfaces of BL of regenerated skeletal muscle fibers and capillaries .
SUMMARYCapillary sizes, the amounts of endothelium, pericytes, basal lamina (BL), and lumina were measured with planimeter on electron micrographs of 20 capillary cross sections from each of 40 skeletal muscle specimens obtained from any of eight specific body sites of 20 diabetics. While the capillaries in the distal abdomen and the proximal thigh do not have thickened BL, those in the muscles of mid-abdomen, chest wall, hand, mid-thigh, mid-lower leg, and foot have significantly increased amounts of BL. The remaining parameters differ among body sites, generally following a pattern established earlier for the skeletal muscle capillaries of nondiabetics. Because of the focal and regional distribution of BL thickening and because it occurs also in nondiabetics, it is concluded that BL thickening is a common but not characteristic feature of diabetes mellitus. A possible mechanism which may lead to BL thickening is proposed and discussed.Additional Indexing Words:
Basement membrane Basal lamina Dilatation EndotheliumSize of capillaries D EGENERATIVE CHANGES of vessels account for the common and serious complications of diabetes mellitus.13 Arteriosclerosis, indistinguishable from that occurring in nondiabetics, is the principal lesion of arteries and arterioles, while excessive accumulation of basal lamina (BL*) characterizes in part the structural changes in the capillaries. In the capillaries of the retina4 and in the glomeruli58 BL thickening occurs characteristically and commonly in the presence of diabetes mellitus while in capillaries of skinr"0 and skeletal muscles"-"6 of diabetics it From the
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