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The effect of ethnicity on the vascular responses to cold exposure of the extremities

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Abstract

Purpose

Cold injuries are more prevalent in individuals of African descent (AFD). Therefore, we investigated the effect of extremity cooling on skin blood flow (SkBF) and temperature (T sk) between ethnic groups.

Methods

Thirty males [10 Caucasian (CAU), 10 Asian (ASN), 10 AFD] undertook three tests in 30 °C air whilst digit T sk and SkBF were measured: (i) vasomotor threshold (VT) test—arm immersed in 35 °C water progressively cooled to 10 °C and rewarmed to 35 °C to identify vasoconstriction and vasodilatation; (ii) cold-induced vasodilatation (CIVD) test—hand immersed in 8 °C water for 30 min followed by spontaneous warming; (iii) cold sensitivity (CS) test—foot immersed in 15 °C water for 2 min followed by spontaneous warming. Cold sensory thresholds of the forearm and finger were also assessed.

Results

In the VT test, vasoconstriction and vasodilatation occurred at a warmer finger T sk in AFD during cooling [21.2 (4.4) vs. 17.0 (3.1) °C, P = 0.034] and warming [22.0 (7.9) vs. 12.1 (4.1) °C, P = 0.002] compared with CAU. In the CIVD test, average SkBF during immersion was greater in CAU [42 (24) %] than ASN [25 (8) %, P = 0.036] and AFD [24 (13) %, P = 0.023]. Following immersion, SkBF was higher and rewarming faster in CAU [3.2 (0.4) °C min−1] compared with AFD [2.5 (0.7) °C min−1, P = 0.037], but neither group differed from ASN [3.0 (0.6) °C min−1]. Responses to the CS test and cold sensory thresholds were similar between groups.

Conclusion

AFD experienced a more intense protracted finger vasoconstriction than CAU during hand immersion, whilst ASN experienced an intermediate response. This greater sensitivity to cold may explain why AFD are more susceptible to cold injuries.

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Abbreviations

AFD:

African descent

ANOVA:

Analysis of variance

ASN:

Asian

CAU:

Caucasian

CIVD:

Cold-induced vasodilatation

CS:

Cold sensitivity

IQR:

Interquartile range

LDU:

Laser Doppler units

Mdn:

Median

SD:

Standard deviation

SkBF:

Skin blood flow

T db :

Dry bulb temperature

T sk :

Skin temperature

T wb :

Wet bulb temperature

VT:

Vasomotor threshold

WBGT:

Wet bulb globe temperature

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the participants for volunteering for the study and Geoff Long and Danny White for their technical support.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical standards

This study complied with the Declaration of Helsinki, as adopted at the 18th World Medical Association (WMA) General Assembly, Helsinki, Finland, 1964, and last amended at the 64th World Medical Association General Assembly, Brazil 2013. This study complied with the Council of Europe (2005) Additional Protocol to the convention on human rights and biomedicine concerning biomedical research, European Treaty Series No. 195, Strasbourg 25 January 2005. Additionally, the study received ethical and scientific approval from the Science Faculty Ethics Committee, prior to recruitment of volunteer participants, who gave informed written consent.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Extreme Environments Laboratory, Department of Sport and Exercise Science, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, PO1 2ER, UK

    Matthew J. Maley, Clare M. Eglin, James R. House & Michael J. Tipton

Authors
  1. Matthew J. Maley
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  2. Clare M. Eglin
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  3. James R. House
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  4. Michael J. Tipton
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Correspondence to Matthew J. Maley.

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Communicated by Narihiko Kondo.

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Maley, M.J., Eglin, C.M., House, J.R. et al. The effect of ethnicity on the vascular responses to cold exposure of the extremities. Eur J Appl Physiol 114, 2369–2379 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-014-2962-2

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