Interactions of mean body and local skin temperatures in the modulation of human forearm and calf blood flows: a three-dimensional description

Aim The inter-relationships between mean body and local skin temperatures have previously been established for controlling hand and foot blood flows. Since glabrous skin contains many arteriovenous anastomoses, it was important to repeat those experiments on non-glabrous regions using the same sample and experimental conditions. Methods Mild hypothermia (mean body temperature 31.4 °C), normothermia (control: 36.0 °C) and moderate hyperthermia (38.3 °C) were induced and clamped (climate chamber and water-perfusion garment) in eight males. Within each condition, five localised thermal treatments (5, 15, 25, 33, 40 °C) were applied to the left forearm and right calf. Steady-state forearm and calf blood flows were measured (venous occlusion plethysmography) for each of the resulting 15 combinations of clamped mean body and local skin temperatures. Results Under the normothermic clamp, cutaneous blood flows averaged 4.2 mL 100 mL−1 min−1 (±0.28: forearm) and 5.4 mL 100 mL−1 min−1 (±0.27: calf). When mildly hypothermic, these segments were unresponsive to localised thermal stimuli, but tracked those changes when normothermic and moderately hyperthermic. For deep-body (oesophageal) temperature elevations, forearm blood flow increased by 5.1 mL 100 mL−1 min−1 °C−1 (±0.9) relative to normothermia, while the calf was much less responsive: 3.3 mL 100 mL−1 min−1 °C−1 (±1.5). Three-dimensional surfaces revealed a qualitative divergence in the control of calf blood flow, with vasoconstrictor tone apparently being released more gradually. Conclusion These descriptions reinforce the importance of deep-tissue temperatures in controlling cutaneous perfusion, with this modulation being non-linear at the forearm and appearing linear for the calf.