Cold perception and cutaneous microvascular response to local cooling at different cooling temperatures

Area of Science:

• Physiology
• Thermoregulation
• Microcirculation

Background:

• Understanding the relationship between sensory perception and physiological responses to cold is crucial for thermoregulation research.
• Local cooling is a common method to study microcirculatory adjustments.
• Laser-Doppler (LD) flux is a key indicator of microcirculatory blood flow.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how quantitatively measured cold perception (CP) thresholds affect microcirculatory responses to local cooling.
• To analyze the direct and indirect laser-Doppler (LD) flux responses during cooling at varying temperatures.
• To determine the correlation between CP thresholds and LD flux responses.

Main Methods:

• CP thresholds were measured in 18 healthy males using the Marstock method.
• Direct and indirect LD flux were recorded during hand immersion in water baths at 20°C, 15°C, and 10°C.
• Linear regression and Pearson correlation analyses were used.

Main Results:

• A significant correlation was found between CP threshold and indirect LD flux response at 20°C (r=0.782) and 15°C (r=0.605).
• No significant correlation was observed between CP threshold and indirect LD flux response at 10°C.
• Direct LD flux response was not detailed in relation to CP threshold in the abstract.

Conclusions:

• Cold perception thresholds significantly influence the indirect microcirculatory response to local cooling at moderate temperatures.
• The influence of CP thresholds on indirect LD flux response diminishes with increasing cold intensity.
• These findings highlight the temperature-dependent interplay between sensory perception and vascular response to cold.