Intrinsic Regulation of Skeletal Muscle Blood Flow.

• The genesis of intrinsic vascular smooth muscle activity and its role in the local control of tissue blood flow has been the source of considerable controversy, particularly in regard to the mechanism underlying autoregulation of blood flow. The phenomenon of autoregulation has been reported for several vascular beds including kidney, intestine,' 4 brain, and heart. A number of investigators '• " have confirmed the early observations of Bayliss who reported autoregulation in skeletal muscle. It has also been demonstrated that the blood vessels of muscle, under certain circumstances, may behave as a relatively rigid or as a passively distensible hydraulic system."'• 8 ' 1 4 ' 1 5 The present experiments were undertaken to determine the relationship between blood flow and perfusion pressure in skeletal muscle of the dog under controlled conditions, in an effort to assess the relative importance of factors contributing to autoregulation and to describe the conditions under which autoregulation is demonstrable.