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Modulation of Blood Flow in the Skin of Human Legs during Transcutaneus Electrical Stimulation of the Spinal Cord

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Abstract

Changes in blood supply to the skin of the anterior-lateral surface of the shin of 12 healthy subjects were detected. The analysis was performed using laser Doppler flowmetry during transcutaneous electrical spinal cord stimulation (TSCS) by subthreshold bipolar pulses with a frequency of 30 Hz. The TSCS at T7 and L1 vertebrae level leads to a significant increase in cutaneous blood flow. With a stimulus intensity of 90% of the motor threshold, the increase in skin perfusion during stimulation at L1 was about 74%, and during stimulation at T7, 38%, relative to the baseline. We suggest that vasodilation and hyperemia of the skin during TSCS occur mainly due to the antidromic stimulation of sensory nerve fibers. Nitric oxide (NO) is an important modulator that promotes vasodilation in TSCS. It is released by the nerve endings and the layer of endothelial cells. Inhibition of cystathionine-γ-lyase significantly reduces the increase in skin blood flow during TSCS. Therefore, it was concluded that H2S, as well as NO, is also involved in the vasodilation in the skin during TSCS.

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Funding

The study was financially supported by the Program “Fundamental Scientific Research for the Long-Term Development and Ensuring the Competitiveness of Society and the State” (Topic 63.4, (0113-2019-0006)), Russian Foundation for Basic Research, project no. 16-29-08277 and the Basic Research Program of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences no. 1.42.

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  1. Pavlov Institute of Physiology Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia

    G. I. Lobov, Yu. P. Gerasimenko & T. R. Moshonkina

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  1. G. I. Lobov
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  2. Yu. P. Gerasimenko
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  3. T. R. Moshonkina
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Correspondence to G. I. Lobov.

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Conflict of interests. The authors declare no apparent or potential conflicts of interest related to the publication of this article.

Statement of compliance with standards of research involving humans as subjects. All studies were carried out in accordance with the principles of biomedical ethics formulated in the Helsinki Declaration of 1964 and its subsequent updates and approved by the local bioethical committee of the Institute of Physiology, RAS (St. Petersburg). Each study participant submitted voluntary written informed consent, signed by him after explaining to him the potential risks and benefits, as well as the nature of the forthcoming study.

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Translated by I. Shipounova

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Lobov, G.I., Gerasimenko, Y.P. & Moshonkina, T.R. Modulation of Blood Flow in the Skin of Human Legs during Transcutaneus Electrical Stimulation of the Spinal Cord. Hum Physiol 46, 384–390 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0362119720040088

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