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Updated: Jul 25, 2026

A Simple and Inexpensive Method for Determining Cold Sensitivity and Adaptation in Mice
Published on: March 17, 2015
alpha-Adrenoceptors and cold-induced vasoconstriction in human finger skin
L Ekenvall1, L E Lindblad, O Norbeck
1Department of Occupational Medicine, Karolinska Sjukhuset, Stockholm, Sweden.
Abstract:
Experiments were designed to determine how cold-induced vasoconstriction is mediated in superficial vessels of human finger skin. alpha-Adrenoceptor antagonists were administered into the finger skin by iontophoresis, and local cooling was applied by a laser-Doppler probe supplied with Peltier elements. Cold-induced vasoconstriction was abolished after administration of the alpha 2-adrenoceptor antagonist rauwolscine but not after the alpha 1-adrenoceptor antagonist doxazosin. The results indicate that vasoconstriction on local cooling in human finger skin is mainly mediated by adrenoceptors of the alpha 2-subtype.
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