Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 18, 2025
08:21
Author Spotlight: A Pharmacodissection Approach to Uncover Mechanisms in Cardiovascular Disease Risk Populations
Published on: July 21, 2023
1.5K
Alternate quantification approaches for cold-induced vasodilation in human glabrous skin
J A Stout1, D E Gerow2,3, P C Clegg2,4
1Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, United States.
Frontiers in Physiology
|June 25, 2025
Summary
Cold-induced vasodilation (CIVD) involves a paradoxical increase in skin blood flow during cold exposure. This study used advanced analysis to reveal periodic local vasoconstriction release as a key mechanism in CIVD.
Area of Science:
- Physiology
- Cardiovascular Science
- Thermoregulation
Background:
- Cold-induced vasodilation (CIVD) is a phenomenon of increased glabrous skin blood flow during cold exposure.
- The underlying local and neural mechanisms of CIVD remain incompletely understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the local and neural mechanisms of CIVD using advanced signal analysis.
- To differentiate CIVD from general cutaneous vasoconstriction.
Main Methods:
- 12 healthy subjects underwent cold and warm water immersion of one hand.
- Beat-by-beat laser-Doppler flux (LDF) and arterial blood pressure (ABP) were recorded.
- Fast-Fourier transform (FFT) and transfer function analysis (TFA) were used to analyze LDF and ABP oscillations.
Main Results:
- Cooling reduced LDF spectral power in immersed fingers but increased it in the control hand.
- FFT-TFA revealed reduced vasoconstriction gains during cooling in immersed sites.
- CIVD events showed distinct patterns of increased very low frequency (nVLF) and decreased low frequency (nLF) power compared to non-CIVD vasoconstriction.
Conclusions:
- The FFT-TFA method provides novel insights into CIVD mechanisms.
- CIVD appears to involve a periodic local release of vasoconstriction modulated by sympathetic tone.
