The influence of internal and skin temperatures on active cutaneous vasodilation under different levels of exercise and ambient temperatures in humans

To clarify the influence of internal and skin temperature on the active cutaneous vasodilation during exercise, the body temperature thresholds for the onset of active vasodilation during light or moderate exercise under different ambient temperature conditions were compared. Seven male subjects performed 30 min of a cycling exercise at 20 % or 50 % of peak oxygen uptake in a room maintained at 20, 24, or 28 °C. Esophageal (Tes) and mean skin temperature (Tsk) as measured by a thermocouple, deep thigh temperature (Tdt) by the zero-heat-flow (ZHF) method, and forearm skin blood flow by laser-Doppler flowmetry (LDF) were monitored. The mean arterial pressure (MAP) was also monitored non-invasively, and the cutaneous vascular conductance (CVC) was calculated as the LDF/MAP. Throughout the experiment, the Tsk at ambient temperatures of 20, 24, and 28 °C were approximately 30, 32, and 34 °C, respectively, for both 20 % and 50 % exercise. During 50 % exercise, the Tes or Tdt thresholds for the onset of the increase in CVC were observed to be similar among the 20, 24, and 28 °C ambient conditions. During 20 % exercise, the increase in Tes and Tdt was significantly lower than those found at 50 %, and the onset of the increase in CVC was only observed at 28 °C. These results suggest that the onset of active vasodilation was affected more strongly by the internal or exercising tissue temperatures than by the skin temperatures during exercise performed at a moderate load in comparison to a light load under Tsk variations ranging from 30 °C to 34 °C. Therefore, the modification by skin temperature of the central control on cutaneous vasomotor tone during exercise may differ between different exercise loads.