Muscle blood flow at onset of dynamic exercise in humans

To evaluate the temporal relationship between blood flow, blood pressure, and muscle contractions, we continuously measured femoral arterial inflow with ultrasound Doppler at onset of passive exercise and voluntary, one-legged, dynamic knee-extensor exercise in humans. Blood velocity and inflow increased (P < 0.006) with the first relaxation of passive and voluntary exercise, whereas the arterial-venous pressure difference was unaltered [P = not significant (NS)]. During steady-state exercise, and with arterial pressure as a superimposed influence, blood velocity was affected by the muscle pump, peaking (P < 0.001) at approximately 2.5 +/- 0.3 m/s as the relaxation coincided with peak systolic arterial blood pressure; blood velocity decreased (P < 0.001) to 44.2 +/- 8.6 and 28.5 +/- 5.5% of peak velocity at the second dicrotic and diastolic blood pressure notches, respectively. Mechanical hindrance occurred (P < 0.001) during the contraction phase at blood pressures less than or equal to that at the second dicrotic notch. The increase in blood flow (Q) was characterized by a one-component (approximately 15% of peak power output), two-component (approximately 40-70% of peak power output), or three-component exponential model (> or = 75% of peak power output), where Q(t) = Qpassive + delta Q1.[1 - e-(t - TD1/tau 1)]+ delta Q2.[1 - e-(t - TD2/tau 2)]+ delta Q3.[1 - e-(t - TD3/tau 3)]; Qpassive, the blood flow during passive leg movement, equals 1.17 +/- 0.11 l/min; TD is the onset latency; tau is the time constant; delta Q is the magnitude of blood flow rise; and subscripts 1-3 refer to the first, second, and third components of the exponential model, respectively. The time to reach 50% of the difference between passive and voluntary asymptotic blood flow was approximately 2.2-8.9 s. The blood flow leveled off after approximately 10-150 s, related to the power outputs. It is concluded that the elevation in blood flow with the first duty cycle(s) is due to muscle mechanical factors, but vasodilators initiate a more potent amplification within the second to fourth contraction.