Abstract
We examined a hypothesis that static exercise and activation of sympathetic activation by metabolically sensitive skeletal muscle afferents (metaboreflex) influence the sympathetic nervous activity modulating pupil diameter. Nine subjects performed 2 min isometric handgrip exercise at 30% maximal voluntary contraction, which was followed by either 2 min of postexercise muscle ischemia (PEMI) in the forearm or no PEMI (control trial). The pupil diameter and mean blood pressure (MAP) increased significantly from rest during exercise in PEMI and control trials (5 ± 1 and 7 ± 1% in diameter; 13 ± 2 and 12 ± 2 mmHg in MAP, respectively). These increases in the diameter and MAP were maintained during PEMI (7 ± 2% and 9 ± 2 mmHg) but not during the recovery period in the control trial (3 ± 2% and 1 ± 2 mmHg). These results demonstrate that static handgrip exercise increases the pupil diameter, and this increase is partly due to the activation of metaboreflex in humans.
References
Fisher JP, Young CN, Fadel PJ (2008) Effect of muscle metaboreflex activation on carotid-cardiac baroreflex function in humans. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 294:H2296–H2304
Fisher JP, Seifert T, Hartwich D, Young CN, Secher NH, Fadel P (2010) Autonomic control of heart rate by metabolically sensitive skeletal muscle afferents in humans. J Physiol 588:1117–1127
Hayashi N, Someya N, Fukuba Y (2010) Effect of intensity of dynamic exercise on pupil diameter in humans. J Physiol Anthropol 29:119–122
Ichinose M, Saito M, Kondo N, Nishiyasu T (2008) Baroreflex and muscle metaboreflex: control of muscle sympathetic nerve activity. Med Sci Sports Exerc 40:2037–2045
Ishigaki H, Miyao M, Ishihara S (1991) Change of pupil size as a function of exercise. J Hum Ergol 20:61–66
Kaufman MP, Forster HV (1996) Reflexes controlling circulatory, ventilatory and airway responses to exercise. In: Rowell LB, Shepherd JT (eds) Handbook of physiology, Sect. 12: exercise: regulation and integration of multiple systems. Oxford University Press, New York, pp 381–447
Koba S, Yoshida T, Hayashi N (2006) Differential sympathetic outflow and vasoconstriction responses at kidney and skeletal muscles during fictive locomotion. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 290:H861–H868
Koba S, Xing J, Sinoway LI, Li J (2007) Differential sympathetic outflow elicited by active muscle in rats. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 293:H2335–H2343
Langham ME, Diggs E (1974) Beta-adrenergic responses in the eyes of rabbits, primates, and man. Exp Eye Res 19:281–295
Langham ME, Palewicz K (1977) The pupillary, the intraocular pressure and the vasomotor responses to noradrenaline in rabbits. J Physiol 267:339–355
Loewenfeld IE (1993) The pupil: anatomy, physiology, and clinical applications. Iowa State University Press, Iowa
Mitchell JH, Kaufman MP, Iwamoto GA (1983) The exercise pressor reflex: its cardiovascular effects, afferent mechanism, and central pathways. Annu Rev Physiol 45:229–242
Morrison SF (2001) Differential control of sympathetic outflow. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 281:R683–R698
Netter FH (2006) Atlas of human anatomy 4th edn. Saunders
Nishiyasu T, Tan N, Morimoto K, Nishiyasu M, Yamaguchi Y, Murakami N (1994) Enhancement of parasympathetic cardiac activity during activation of muscle metaboreflex in humans. J Appl Physiol 77:2778–2783
Nishiyasu T, Tan N, Morimoto K, Sone R, Murakami N (1998) Cardiovascular and humoral responses to sustained muscle metaboreflex activation in humans. J Appl Physiol 84:116–122
Pawelczyk JA, Pawelczyk RA, Warberg J, Mitchell JH, Secher NH (1997) Cardiovascular and catecholamine responses to static exercise in partially curarized humans. Acta Physiol Scand 160:23–28
Reid RC (1999) Vision. In: Zigmond MJ, Bloom FE, Landis SC, Roberts JL, Squire LR (eds) Fundamental neuroscience. Academic Press, San Diego, p 821
Shibasaki M, Kondo N, Crandall CG (2001) Evidence for metaboreceptor stimulation of sweating in normothermic and heat-stressed humans. J Physiol 534:605–611
Smith SA, Mitchell JH, Garry MG (2006) The mammalian exercise pressor reflex in health and disease. Exp Physiol 91:89–102
Steinhauer SR, Siegle GJ, Condray R, Pless M (2004) Sympathetic and parasympathetic innervation of pupillary dilation during sustained processing. Int J Psychophysiol 52:77–86
Tokizawa K, Mizuno M, Hayashi N, Muraoka I (2006) Cardiovascular responses to static extension and flexion of arms and legs. Eur J Appl Physiol 97:249–252
Vissing SF, Scherrer U, Victor RG (1991) Stimulation of skin sympathetic nerve discharge by central command. Differential control of sympathetic outflow to skin and skeletal muscle during static exercise. Circ Res 69:228–238
Yu Y, Koss MC (2003) Functional characterization of alpha-adrenoceptors mediating pupillary dilation in rats. Eur J Pharmacol 471:135–140
Acknowledgments
This study was partly supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Science, Sport, Culture, and Technology of Japan (no. 21370111).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Communicated by Susan Ward.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hayashi, N., Someya, N. Muscle metaboreflex activation by static exercise dilates pupil in humans. Eur J Appl Physiol 111, 1217–1221 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-010-1716-z
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-010-1716-z