A new method for measuring the oxygen diffusion constant and oxygen consumption rate of arteriolar walls.

Oxygen transport is believed to primarily occur via capillaries and depends on the oxygen tension gradient between the vessels and tissues. As blood flows along branching arterioles, the O(2) saturation drops, indicating either consumption or diffusion. The blood flow rate, the O(2) concentration gradient, and Krogh's O(2) diffusion constant (K) of the vessel wall are parameters affecting O(2)delivery. We devised a method for evaluating K of arteriolar wall in vivo using phosphorescence quenching microscopy to measure the partial pressure of oxygen in two areas almost simultaneously. The K value of arteriolar wall (inner diameter, 63.5 ± 11.9 μm; wall thickness, 18.0 ± 1.2 μm) was found to be 6.0 ± 1.2 × 10(-11) (cm(2)/s)(ml O(2)·cm(-3) tissue·mmHg(-1)). The arteriolar wall O(2) consumption rate (M) was 1.5 ± 0.1 (ml O(2)·100 cm(-3) tissue·min(-1)), as calculated using Krogh's diffusion equation. These results suggest that the arteriolar wall consumes a considerable proportion of the O(2) that diffuses through it.