title: Oxygen absorption by skin exposed to oxygen supersaturated water.
abstract: The present study tests the hypothesis that skin on the plantar surface of the foot absorbs oxygen (O(2)) when immersed in water that has a high dissolved O(2) content. Healthy male and female subjects (24.2 ± 1.4 years) soaked each foot in tap water (1.7 ± 0.1 mg O(2)·L(-1); 30.7 ± 0.3 °C) or O(2)-infused water (50.2 ± 1.7 mg O(2)·L(-1); 32.1 ± 0.5 °C) for up to 30 min in 50 different experiments. Transcutaneous oximetry and near infrared spectroscopy were used to evaluate changes in skin PO(2), oxygenated haemoglobin, and cytochrome oxidase aa(3) that resulted from treatment. Compared with the tap water condition, tissue oxygenation index was 3.5% ± 1.3% higher in feet treated for 30 min with O(2)-infused water. This effect persisted after treatment, as skin PO(2) was higher in feet treated with O(2)-infused water at 2 min (237 ± 9 vs. 112 ± 5 mm HG) and 15 min (131 ± 1 vs. 87 ± 4 mm HG) post-treatment. When blood flow to the foot was occluded for 5 min, feet resting in O(2)-infused water maintained a 3-fold higher O(2) consumption rate than feet treated with tap water (9.1 ± 1.4 vs. 3.0 ± 1.0 µL·100 g(-1)·min(-1)). We estimate that skin absorbs 4.5 mL of O(2)·m(-2)·min(-1) from O(2)-infused water. Thus, skin absorbs appreciable amounts of O(2) from O(2)-infused water. This finding may prove useful and assist development of treatments targeting skin diseases with ischemic origin.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Kinesiology, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, Canada. sreading@unb.ca
authors.forename: Stacey A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Reading
authors.forename: Maggie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yeomans
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001785:Blood Gas Monitoring, Transcutaneous / Q000379:methods; D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005528:Foot / Q000098:blood supply; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010100:Oxygen / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D010101:Oxygen Consumption / Q000502:physiology; D012039:Regional Blood Flow / Q000502:physiology; D012867:Skin / Q000378:metabolism*; D012869:Skin Absorption / Q000502:physiology*; D014867:Water; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D006454:Hemoglobins; D014867:Water; D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV; D010100:Oxygen