Local temperature-sensitive mechanisms are important mediators of limb tissue hyperemia in the heat-stressed human at rest and during small muscle mass exercise.

Limb tissue and systemic blood flow increases with heat stress, but the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here, we tested the hypothesis that heat stress-induced increases in limb tissue perfusion are primarily mediated by local temperature-sensitive mechanisms. Leg and systemic temperatures and hemodynamics were measured at rest and during incremental single-legged knee extensor exercise in 15 males exposed to 1 h of either systemic passive heat-stress with simultaneous cooling of a single leg (n=8) or isolated leg heating or cooling (n=7). Systemic heat-stress increased core, skin and heated leg blood (Tb) temperatures, cardiac output and heated leg blood flow (LBF, 0.6 ± 0.1 l.min(-1); P0.05). Increased heated leg deep tissue BF was closely related to Tb (R(2) = 0.50; P0.05), despite unchanged systemic temperatures and hemodynamics. During incremental exercise, heated LBF was consistently maintained ~ 0.6 l.min(-1) higher than that in the cooled leg (P<0.01), with LBF and vascular conductance in both legs showing a strong correlation with their respective local Tb (R(2) = 0.85 and 0.95, P<0.05). We conclude that local temperature-sensitive mechanisms are important mediators in limb tissue perfusion regulation both at rest and during small-muscle mass exercise in hyperthermic humans.The invasive study was partially funded by Gatorade Sports Science Institute, PepsiCo

Mechanisms for the control of local tissue blood flow during thermal interventions: influence of temperature-dependent ATP release from human blood and endothelial cells

© 2016 The Authors. Local tissue perfusion changes with alterations in temperature during heating and cooling, but the thermosensitivity of the vascular ATP signalling mechanisms for control of blood flow during thermal interventions remains unknown. Here we tested the hypotheses that the release of the vasodilator mediator ATP from human erythrocytes, but not from endothelial cells or other blood constituents, is sensitive to both increases and reductions in temperature and that increasing intravascular ATP availability with ATP infusion would potentiate thermal hyperaemia in limb tissues. We first measured blood temperature (Tb), brachial artery blood flow (BABF) and plasma [ATP] during passive arm heating and cooling in healthy males and found they increased by 3.0 ± 1.2 ºC, 105 ± 25 ml min-1 °C-1 and 2-fold (all P<0.05) with heating, but decreased or remained unchanged with cooling. In additional males, intrabrachial artery ATP infusion increased skin and deep tissue perfusion to levels equal or above thermal hyperaemia. In isolated erythrocyte samples exposed to different temperatures, ATP release increased 1.9-fold from 33°C to 39°C (P<0.05) and declined by ~50% at 20°C (P<0.05), but no changes were observed in cultured human endothelial cells, plasma or serum samples. In conclusion, increases in plasma [ATP] and skin and deep tissue perfusion with limb heating are associated with elevations in ATP release from erythrocytes, but not from endothelial cells or other blood constituents. Erythrocyte ATP release is also sensitive to temperature reductions, suggesting erythrocytes may function as thermal sensors and ATP signalling generators for tissue perfusion control during thermal interventions