The effect of ethnicity on the vascular responses to cold exposure of the extremities
Abstract
© 2014, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. Purpose: Cold injuries are more prevalent in individuals of African descent (AFD). Therefore, we investigated the effect of extremity cooling on skin blood flow (SkBF) and temperature (Tsk) between ethnic groups.Methods: Thirty males [10 Caucasian (CAU), 10 Asian (ASN), 10 AFD] undertook three tests in 30 °C air whilst digit Tsk and SkBF were measured: (i) vasomotor threshold (VT) test—arm immersed in 35 °C water progressively cooled to 10 °C and rewarmed to 35 °C to identify vasoconstriction and vasodilatation; (ii) cold-induced vasodilatation (CIVD) test—hand immersed in 8 °C water for 30 min followed by spontaneous warming; (iii) cold sensitivity (CS) test—foot immersed in 15 °C water for 2 min followed by spontaneous warming. Cold sensory thresholds of the forearm and finger were also assessed.Results: In the VT test, vasoconstriction and vasodilatation occurred at a warmer finger Tsk in AFD during cooling [21.2 (4.4) vs. 17.0 (3.1) °C, P = 0.034] and warming [22.0 (7.9) vs. 12.1 (4.1) °C, P = 0.002] compared with CAU. In the CIVD test, average SkBF during immersion was greater in CAU [42 (24) %] than ASN [25 (8) %, P = 0.036] and AFD [24 (13) %, P = 0.023]. Following immersion, SkBF was higher and rewarming faster in CAU [3.2 (0.4) °C min−1] compared with AFD [2.5 (0.7) °C min−1, P = 0.037], but neither group differed from ASN [3.0 (0.6) °C min−1]. Responses to the CS test and cold sensory thresholds were similar between groups.Conclusion: AFD experienced a more intense protracted finger vasoconstriction than CAU during hand immersion, whilst ASN experienced an intermediate response. This greater sensitivity to cold may explain why AFD are more susceptible to cold injuries.Citation
Maley, M.J., Eglin, C.M., House, J.R. and Tipton, M.J. (2014) The effect of ethnicity on the vascular responses to cold exposure of the extremities, European Journal of Applied Physiology, 114, pp. 2369–2379.Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLCJournal
European Journal of Applied PhysiologyPubMed ID
25081130Additional Links
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00421-014-2962-2Type
Journal articleLanguage
enDescription
This is an accepted manuscript of an article published by Springer in European Journal of Applied Physiology on 01/08/2014, available online: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-014-2962-2 The accepted version of the publication may differ from the final published version.ISSN
1439-6319EISSN
1439-6327ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1007/s00421-014-2962-2
Scopus Count
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Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
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