Effect of skin temperature on skin endothelial function assessment

Area of Science:

• Physiology
• Thermoregulation
• Vascular Biology

Background:

• Microcirculatory dysfunction is central to sepsis pathophysiology.
• Skin microcirculation is integral to thermoregulation and can be assessed using laser techniques.
• Understanding the influence of temperature on microvascular function is critical for accurate assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of varying skin temperatures on endothelial and non-endothelial microvascular responses.
• To determine if skin temperature influences measurements of microvascular function.
• To assess the reliability of microvascular assessments under different thermal conditions.

Main Methods:

• Fifteen healthy participants were exposed to low, intermediate, and high ambient temperatures.
• Skin blood flow was measured using laser speckle contrast imaging on the forearm.
• Microvascular responses were evaluated using acetylcholine iontophoresis, sodium nitroprusside iontophoresis, and post-occlusive reactive hyperemia.

Main Results:

• Skin temperature significantly modified maximal vasodilation in response to microvascular tests.
• Lower skin temperatures resulted in significantly reduced vasodilation when expressed as absolute values or cutaneous vascular conductance (CVC).
• Statistical differences in vasodilation disappeared when results were normalized as a multiple of baseline.

Conclusions:

• Skin temperature must be controlled during microvascular assessments to prevent measurement bias.
• Normalizing microvascular response data to baseline values can correct for temperature-induced variations.
• These findings are important for standardizing microvascular function testing, particularly in conditions involving altered body temperature.