Blood flow in different regions of bone marrow after short-term exercise.

Total and regional blood flow was studied in femoral bone marrow of rats exposed to a short-term exhaustive exercise. The 10 micron microspheres labeled with 58Co were injected into femoral artery and the subsequent radioactivity yield was measured in 3 regions of the bone marrow (proximal metaphysis, diaphysis and distal metaphysis). Following exercise a rise of blood flow in the metaphyseal regions was accompanied by a fall in the diaphyseal area. The changes did not alter, however, the total blood flow rate in bone marrow which remained constant irrespective of the heavy exercise load.