title: Cutaneous microvascular response during local cold exposure - the effect of female sex hormones and cold perception.
abstract: It is generally known that differences exist between males and females with regard to sensitivity to cold. Similar differences even among females in different hormonal balance might influence microvascular response during cold provocation testing. The aim of the present study was to measure sex hormone levels, cold and cold pain perception thresholds and compare them to cutaneous laser-Doppler flux response during local cooling in both the follicular and luteal phases of the menstrual cycle. In the luteal phase a more pronounced decrease in laser-Doppler flux was observed compared to follicular phase during local cooling at 15°C (significant difference by Dunnett's test, p<0.05). In addition, statistically significant correlations between progesterone level and laser-Doppler flux response to local cooling were observed during the follicular (R=-0.552, p=0.0174) and during the luteal phases (R=0.520, p=0.0271). In contrast, the correlation between estradiol level and laser-Doppler flux response was observed only in the follicular phase (R=-0.506, p=0.0324). Our results show that individual sensitivity to cold influences cutaneous microvascular response to local cooling; that microvascular reactivity is more pronounced during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle; and that reactivity correlates with hormone levels. The effect of specific sex hormone levels is related to the cold-provocation temperature.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia. Electronic address: ksenija.cankar@mf.un-lj.si.
authors.forename: Ksenija
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Cankar
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Music
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Zare
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Finderle
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D003080:Cold Temperature; D004958:Estradiol / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D005498:Follicular Phase / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D017078:Laser-Doppler Flowmetry; D008183:Luteal Phase / Q000097:blood; D008833:Microcirculation; D017288:Pain Threshold; D011374:Progesterone / Q000097:blood*; D012039:Regional Blood Flow; D012737:Sex Factors; D012867:Skin / Q000098:blood supply*; D013697:Thermosensing
chemical_list: D011374:Progesterone; D004958:Estradiol
keywords: Cold perception threshold; Female sex hormones; Local cooling; Microcirculation