title: Finger and forearm vasodilatatory changes after local cold acclimation.
abstract: To determine the vascular changes induced by local cold acclimation, post-ischaemia and exercise vasodilatation were studied in the finger and the forearm of five subjects cold-acclimated locally and five non-acclimated subjects. Peak blood flow was measured by venous occlusion plethysmography after 5 min of arterial occlusion (PBFisc), after 5 min of sustained handgrip at 10% maximal voluntary contraction (PBFexe), and after 5 min of both treatments simultaneously (PBFisc + exe). Each test was performed at room temperature (25 degrees C, SE 1 C) (non-cooled condition) and after 5 min of 5 degrees C cold water immersion (cooled condition). After the cold acclimation period, the decrease in skin temperature was more limited in the cold-acclimated compared to the non-acclimated (P less than 0.01). The PBFisc was significantly reduced in the cooled condition only in the cold-acclimated subjects (finger: 8.4 ml.100 ml-1.min-1, SE 1.1, P less than 0.01; forearm: 5.8 ml.100 ml-1.min-1, SE 1.5, P less than 0.01) compared to the non-cooled condition. Forearm PBFexe was significantly decreased in the cooled condition only in the cold-acclimated subjects (non-cooled: 7.4 ml.100 ml-1.min-1, SE 1.2; cooled: 3.9 ml.100 ml-1.min-1, SE 2.6, P less than 0.05) indicating that muscle blood flow was also reduced.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Thermorégulation et Energétique Musculaire, C.N.R.S. URA 65, Lyon, France.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Leftheriotis
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Savourey
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Saumet
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bittel
mesh_terms: D000064:Acclimatization; D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D000328:Adult; D001823:Body Composition; D003080:Cold Temperature; D005385:Fingers / Q000098:blood supply*; D005542:Forearm / Q000098:blood supply*; D006439:Hemodynamics; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012039:Regional Blood Flow; D012885:Skinfold Thickness; D014664:Vasodilation