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Nasal mucosal vasodilatation in response to passive hyperthermia in humans

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European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

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Abstract

The present study was conducted to measure nasal mucosal blood flow (NMBF) during body warming. Five subjects [mean (SD) 24 (2) years], wearing only shorts and a thick felt hat with ear flaps, were immersed to the neck in a bath at 40 (0.5)°C. Tympanic (T ty), esophageal (T es), mean unweighted skin (T sk), nose skin and ear pinna skin were recorded at 1-min intervals. NMBF on the lower septal wall was estimated using a laser Doppler flow meter. At rest T ty and T es were both 36.5°C. T ty dropped significantly below T es during body warming, despite impeded heat loss from the head due to the felt hat. T ty increased to 37.3°C and T es increased to 37.5°C during the immersion. During the immersion all skin temperatures were steady or increasing, ruling out the possibility of a contamination of T ty from (T sk), Body warming significantly (P = 0.001) increased NMBF by approximately three times from resting values at the end of immersion. During the period of increasing core temperatures NMBF was significantly correlated to T ty (r = 0.93, P = 0.0001) and T es (r = 0.97, P = 0.0001), suggesting the blood flow change in this tissue was a thermo-regulatory response. The increased NMBF during hyperthermia supports the hypothesis of respiratory cooling involvement in selective brain cooling of humans.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Laval University, GlK 7P4, Ste-Foy, Québec, Canada

    Matthew D. White & Michel Cabanac

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  1. Matthew D. White
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  2. Michel Cabanac
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White, M.D., Cabanac, M. Nasal mucosal vasodilatation in response to passive hyperthermia in humans. Eur J Appl Physiol 70, 207–212 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00238565

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00238565

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