Hemodynamic and metabolic responses of the exercising lower limb of humans

This study was performed to determine the hemodynamic and metabolic responses of the human lower limb during exercise. Blood flow to the lower extremity was measured and sampled for lactate, catecholamines, and oxygen content in 12 normal men at rest, at all stages of bicycle ergometry, and during the postexercise recovery period. Whole body oxygen consumption and cardiac output were recorded throughout the experiment. Limb blood flow increased in a near-linear manner with both whole body and limb oxygen consumption. Although cardiac output rose with increasing whole body oxygen consumption, the increment in cardiac output diminished between submaximal and maximal levels of exercise resulting in a curvilinear relationship between blood flow to the exercising limb and cardiac output; this indicates that a major redistribution of cardiac output to the exercising lower extremity occurs, particularly at maximal levels of exercise. Covariance analysis suggested that limb oxygen consumption was the primary determinant of limb blood flow and limb vascular resistance during exercise. Arterial and venous lactate and catecholamine concentrations, obtained from the exercising lower extremity, could not be implicated as factors having a major influence on blood flow to that limb. The rate of lactate efflux from the limb during and after exercise, however, was directly related to limb blood flow.