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Food intake increases metabolism and body temperature, which may in turn influence ventilatory responses. Our aim was to assess the effect of food intake on ventilatory sensitivity to rising core temperature during exercise. Nine healthy male subjects exercised on a cycle ergometer at 50% of peak oxygen uptake in sessions with and without prior food intake. Ventilatory sensitivity to rising core temperature was defined by the slopes of regression lines relating ventilatory parameters to core temperature. Mean skin temperature, mean body temperature (calculated from esophageal temperature and mean skin temperature), oxygen uptake, carbon dioxide elimination, minute ventilation, alveolar ventilation, and tidal volume (V T ) were all significantly higher at baseline in sessions with food intake than without food intake. During exercise, esophageal temperature, mean skin temperature, mean body temperature, carbon dioxide elimination, and end-tidal CO 2 pressure were all significantly higher in sessions with food intake than without it. By contrast, ventilatory parameters did not differ between sessions with and without food intake, with the exception of V T during the first 5 min of exercise. The ventilatory sensitivities to rising core temperature also did not differ, with the exception of an early transient effect on V T . Food intake increases body temperature before and during exercise. Other than during the first 5 min of exercise, food intake does not affect ventilatory parameters during exercise, despite elevation of both body temperature and metabolism. Thus, with the exception of an early transient effect on V T , ventilatory sensitivity to rising core temperature is not affected by food intake.

To examine the effect of menstrual cycle on the ventilatory sensitivity to rising body temperature, ten healthy women exercised for ~60 min on a cycle ergometer at 50% of peak oxygen uptake during the follicular and luteal phases of their cycle. Esophageal temperature, mean skin temperature, mean body temperature, minute ventilation, and tidal volume were all significantly higher at baseline and during exercise in the luteal phase than the follicular phase. On the other hand, end-tidal partial pressure of carbon dioxide was significantly lower during exercise in the luteal phase than the follicular phase. Plotting ventilatory parameters against esophageal temperature revealed there to be no significant menstrual cycle-related differences in the slopes or intercepts of the regression lines, although minute ventilation and tidal volume did significantly differ during exercise with mild hyperthermia. To evaluate the cutaneous vasodilatory response, relative laser-Doppler flowmetry values were plotted against mean body temperature, which revealed that the mean body temperature threshold for cutaneous vasodilation was significantly higher in the luteal phase than the follicular phase, but there were no significant differences in the sensitivity or peak values. These results suggest that the menstrual cycle phase influences the cutaneous vasodilatory response during exercise and the ventilatory response at rest and during exercise with mild hyperthermia, but it does not influence ventilatory responses during exercise with moderate hyperthermia.

We examined the degree to which ventilatory sensitivity to rising body temperature (the slope of the regression line relating ventilation and body temperature) is altered by restoration of arterial PCO(2) to the eucapnic level during prolonged exercise in the heat. Thirteen subjects exercised for ~60 min on a cycle ergometer at 50% of peak O(2) uptake with and without inhalation of CO(2)-enriched air. Subjects began breathing CO(2)-enriched air at the point that end-tidal Pco(2) started to decline. Esophageal temperature (T(es)), minute ventilation (V(E)), tidal volume (V(T)), respiratory frequency (f(R)), respiratory gases, middle cerebral artery blood velocity, and arterial blood pressure were recorded continuously. When V(E), V(T), f(R), and ventilatory equivalents for O(2) uptake (V(E)/VO(2)) and CO(2) output (V(E)/VCO(2)) were plotted against changes in T(es) from the start of the CO(2)-enriched air inhalation (ΔT(es)), the slopes of the regression lines relating V(E), V(T), V(E)/VO(2), and V(E)/VCO(2) to ΔT(es) (ventilatory sensitivity to rising body temperature) were significantly greater when subjects breathed CO(2)-enriched air than when they breathed room air (V(E): 19.8 ± 10.3 vs. 8.9 ± 6.7 l·min(-1)·°C(-1), V(T): 18 ± 120 vs. -81 ± 92 ml/°C; V(E)/VO(2): 7.4 ± 5.5 vs. 2.6 ± 2.3 units/°C, and V(E)/VCO(2): 7.6 ± 6.6 vs. 3.4 ± 2.8 units/°C). The increase in Ve was accompanied by increases in V(T) and f(R). These results suggest that restoration of arterial PCO(2) to nearly eucapnic levels increases ventilatory sensitivity to rising body temperature by around threefold.

In humans, hyperthermia leads to activation of a set of thermoregulatory responses that includes cutaneous vasodilation and sweating. Hyperthermia also increases ventilation in humans, as is observed in panting dogs, but the physiological significance and characteristics of the hyperventilatory response in humans remain unclear. The relative contribution of respiratory heat loss to total heat loss in a hot environment in humans is small, and this hyperventilation causes a concomitant reduction in arterial CO2 pressure (hypocapnia), which can cause cerebral hypoperfusion. Consequently, hyperventilation in humans may not contribute to the maintenance of physiological homeostasis (i.e., thermoregulation). To gain some insight into the physiological significance of hyperthermia-induced hyperventilation in humans, in this review, we discuss 1) the mechanisms underlying hyperthermia-induced hyperventilation, 2) the factors modulating this response, and 3) the physiological consequences of the response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To examine the effect of postprandial thermogenesis on the cutaneous vasodilatory response, 10 healthy male subjects exercised for 30 min on a cycle ergometer at 50% of peak oxygen uptake, with and without food intake. Mean skin temperature, mean body temperature (), heart rate, oxygen uptake, carbon dioxide elimination, and respiratory quotient were all significantly higher at baseline in the session with food intake than in the session without food intake. To evaluate the cutaneous vasodilatory response, relative laser Doppler flowmetry values were plotted against esophageal temperature ( Tes) and . Regression analysis revealed that the threshold for cutaneous vasodilation tended to be higher with food intake than without it, but there were no significant differences in the sensitivity. To clarify the effect of postprandial thermogenesis on the threshold for cutaneous vasodilation, the between-session difference in the Tes threshold and the threshold were plotted against the between-session difference in baseline Tes and baseline , respectively. Linear regression analysis of the resultant plot showed significant positive linear relationships ( Tes: r = 0.85, P < 0.01; : r = 0.67, P < 0.05). These results suggest that postprandial thermogenesis increases baseline body temperature, which raises the body temperature threshold for cutaneous vasodilation during exercise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We tested the hypothesis that, in humans, hypohydration attenuates hyperthermic hyperpnea during exercise in the heat. On two separate occasions, thirteen male subjects performed a fluid replacement (FR) and a no-fluid replacement (NFR) trial in random order. The subjects performed two bouts of cycle exercise (Ex1 and Ex2, 30-60 mm) at 50% peak oxygen uptake (VO[sub2] peak) in 35°C separated by a 70- to 80-mm rest period, during which they drank water containing 25 mosmol/l sodium in the FR trial but not the NFR trial. The drinking in the FR trial nearly restored the body fluid to the euhydrated condition, so that the body fluid status differed between the trials before Ex2 (the difference in plasma osmolality before Ex2 was 9.4 mosmol/kgH[sub2]O; plasma volume was 7.6%, and body weight was 2.5%). The slopes of the linear relationships between ventilatory variables (minute ventilation, ventilatory equivalents for oxygen up- take and carbon dioxide output, tidal volume, respiratory frequency, and end-tidal CO[sub2] pressure) and esophageal temperature (T[subes]) did not significantly differ between Exi and Ex2, or between the FR and NFR trials. On the other hand, during Ex2 in the NFR trial, the T[subes] threshold for the onset of increased forearm vascular conductance (FVC) was higher, and the slope and peak values of the relationship between FVC and T[subes] were lower than during Ex1 in the NFR trial and during Ex2 in the FR trial. These findings suggest that hypohydration does not affect the hyperthermic hyperpnea during exercise, although it markedly attenuates the cutaneous vasodilatory response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We tested the hypothesis that, in humans, hyperthermic hyperpnea elicited in resting subjects differs from that elicited during submaximal, moderate-intensity exercise. In the rest trial, hot-water legs-only immersion and a water-perfused suit were used to increase esophageal temperature (Tes) in 19 healthy male subjects; in the exercise trial, Tes was increased by prolonged submaximal cycling [50% peak O2 uptake (~Io2)] in the heat (35°C). Minute ventilation (VE), ventilatory equivalent for VO2 (VE/Vo2) and CO2 output (VE/Vco2), tidal volume (VT), and respiratory frequency (f) were plotted as functions of Tes. In the exercise trial, VE increased linearly with increases (from 37.0 to 38.7°C) in Tes in all subjects; in the rest trial, 14 of the 19 subjects showed a Tes threshold for hyperpnea (37.8 ± 0.5°C). Above the threshold for hyperpnea, the slope of the regression line relating VE and Tes was significantly greater for the rest than the exercise trial. Moreover, the slopes of the regression lines relating VE/VO2, VE/Vco2, and Tes were significantly greater for the rest than the exercise trial. The increase in VE reflected increases in VT and f in the rest trial, but only f in the exercise trial, after an initial increase in ventilation due to VT. Finally, the slope of the regression line relating Tes and VT or f was significantly greater for the rest than the exercise trial. These findings indicate that hyperthermic hyperpnea does indeed differ, depending on whether one is at rest or exercising at submaximal, moderate intensity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]