Regular physical activity alters the postocclusive reactive hyperemia of the cutaneous microcirculation

Regular physical activity leads to increased endothelium-dependent vasodilatation. Postocclusive reactive hyperemia (PRH) is a transient increase of blood flow after the release of an arterial occlusion and has been used as a clinical tool to estimate endothelial function. The aim of our study was to assess the potential effect of regular physical training on PRH of skin microcirculation. Skin blood flux was estimated by laser-Doppler fluxmetry (LDF) in two groups of subjects: 12 highly trained athletes and 12 age-matched sedentary controls. LDF was measured on two specific skin sites: volar aspect of the forearm (nonglabrous area) and finger pulp of the middle finger (glabrous area). After the release of a 3-min occlusion of the brachial artery, we determined the following indices of PRH: the time to peak (tpeak), the maximal LDF (LDFpeak), the recovery time (trec), the area under the PRH curve (AUC). Baseline LDF did not differ between the trained and sedentary subjects in either site. On the forearm, we found no significant differences in either PRH parameter. On the contrary, on the finger pulp, there were statistically significant differences in the tpeak and the AUC (p < or = 0.05). The results show an altered PRH response of skin microcirculation in the finger pulp in the trained subjects. We may speculate that this could be the result of an increased endothelial vasodilator capacity. Further, the potential adaptations of the endothelium differ between the glabrous and nonglabrous skin sites.