Top

European Journal of Applied Physiology

Published in:

01-11-2014 | Original Article

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

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

Published in: European Journal of Applied Physiology | Issue 11/2014

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.

Abbink EJ, Wollersheim H, Netten PM, Smits P (2001) Reproducibility of skin microcirculatory measurements in humans, with special emphasis on capillaroscopy. Vasc Med 6:203–210. doi:10.1177/1358836X0100600401 PubMedCrossRef

Allwood MJ, Burry HS (1954) The effect of local temperature on blood flow in the human foot. J Physiol 124:345–357PubMedPubMedCentral

Braverman IM, Keh A, Goldminz D (1990) Correlation of laser Doppler wave patterns with underlying microvascular anatomy. J Invest Dermatol 95:283–286PubMedCrossRef

Burgess JE, Macfarlane F (2009) Retrospective analysis of the ethnic origins of male British army soldiers with peripheral cold weather injury. J R Army Med Corps 155:11–15PubMedCrossRef

Cheung SS, Mekjavic IB (2007) Cold-induced vasodilatation is not homogenous or generalizable across the hand and feet. Eur J Appl Physiol 99:701–705. doi:10.1007/s00421-006-0383-6 PubMedCrossRef

Conway GA, Husberg BJ (1999) Cold-related non-fatal injuries in Alaska. Am J Ind Med 36:39–41CrossRef

Cooper DC, Mills PJ, Bardwell WA, Ziegler MG, Dimsdale JE (2009) The effects of ethnic discrimination and socioeconomic status on endothelin-1 among blacks and whites. Am J Hypertens 22:698–704. doi:10.1038/ajh.2009.72 PubMedCrossRefPubMedCentral

Daanen HA (2003) Finger cold-induced vasodilation: a review. Eur J Appl Physiol 89:411–426. doi:10.1007/s00421-003-0818-2 PubMedCrossRef

Daanen HA, van der Struijs NR (2005) Resistance index of frostbite as a predictor of cold injury in Arctic operations. Aviat Space Environ Med 76:1119–1122PubMed

DeGroot DW, Castellani JW, Williams JO, Amoroso PJ (2003) Epidemiology of U.S. army cold weather injuries, 1980–1999. Aviat Space Environ Med 74:564–570PubMed

Du Bois D, Du Bois EF (1916) Clinical calorimetry: tenth paper: a formula to estimate the approximate surface area if height and weight be known. Arch Intern Med 17:863–871CrossRef

Eglin CM, Golden FSC, Tipton MJ (2005) Increasing the reproducibility of a cold sensitivity test for non-freezing cold injury. In: Holmer I, Kuklane K, Gao C (eds) Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Environmental Ergonomics. Lund University, Lund, pp 274–277

Eglin CM, Golden FSC, Tipton MJ (2013) Cold sensitivity test for individuals with non-freezing cold injury: the effect of prior exercise. Extrem Physiol Med 2:16. doi:10.1186/2046-7648-2-16 PubMedCrossRefPubMedCentral

Endrich B, Hammersen F, Messmer K (1990) Microvascular ultrastructure in non-freezing cold injuries. Res Exp Med 190:365–379CrossRef

Evans RR, Phillips BG, Singh G, Bauman JL, Gulati A (1996) Racial and gender differences in endothelin-1. Am J Cardiol 78:486–488PubMedCrossRef

García-Villalón A, Padilla J, Fernández N, Monge L, Gómez B, Diéguez G (1997) Role of endothelin receptors, calcium and nitric oxide in the potentiation by endothelin-1 of the sympathetic contraction of rabbit ear artery during cooling. Br J Pharmacol 121:1659–1664PubMedCrossRefPubMedCentral

Golden FSC, Francis TJR, Gallimore D, Pethybridge R (2013) Lessons from history: morbidity of cold injury in the Royal Marines during the Falklands Conflict of 1982. Extrem Physiol Med 2:1–12. doi:10.1186/2046-7648-2-24 CrossRef

Golja P, Tipton MJ, Mekjavic IB (2003) Cutaneous thermal thresholds: the reproducibility of their measurements and the effect of gender. J Therm Biol 28:341–346. doi:10.1016/S0306-4565(03)00010-X CrossRef

Harris RA, Padilla J, Hanlon KP, Rink LD, Wallace JP (2007) Reproducibility of the flow-mediated dilation response to acute exercise in overweight men. Ultrasound Med Biol 33:1579–1585PubMedCrossRef

Hashmi MA, Rashid M, Haleem A, Bokhari SA, Hussain T (1998) Frostbite: epidemiology at high altitude in the Karakoram mountains. Ann R Coll Surg Engl 80:91–95PubMedPubMedCentral

Hirai K, Morvath SM, Weinstein V (1970) Differences in the vascular hunting reaction between Caucasian and Japanese. Angiology 21:502–510PubMedCrossRef

Hohn AR, Riopel DA, Keil JE, Loadholt CB, Margolius HS, Halushka P, Privitera PJ, Webb JG, Medley ES, Schuman SH, Rubin MI, Pantell RH, Braunstein ML (1983) Childhood familial and racial differences in physiologic and biochemical factors related to hypertension. Hypertension 5:56–70. doi:10.1161/01.HYP.5.1.56 PubMedCrossRef

Hong S, Nelesen RA, Krohn PL, Mills PJ, Dimsdale JE (2006) The association of social status and blood pressure with markers of vascular inflammation. Psychosom Med 68:517–523. doi:10.1097/01.psy.0000227684.81684.07 PubMedCrossRef

Iampietro PF, Goldman ER, Buskirk ER, Bass DE (1959) Response of Negro and white males to cold. J Appl Physiol 14:798–800PubMed

Ikäheimo TM, Hassi J (2011) Frostbites in circumpolar areas. Glob Health Action 4:1–7. doi:10.3402/gha.v4i0.8456

Irwin MS (1996) Nature and mechanism of peripheral nerve damage in an experimental model of non-freezing cold injury. Ann R Coll Surg Engl 78:372–379PubMedPubMedCentral

Jackson RL, Roberts DE, Cote RA, McNeal P, Faye JT, Sharp MW, Kraus E, Rahman SA, Hamlet MP (1989) Psychological and physiological responses of blacks and caucasians to hand cooling. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine. Natick, Massachusetts, pp 1–57

Jia J, Pollock M (1997) The pathogenesis of non-freezing cold nerve injury. Observations in the rat. Brain A J Neurol 120:631–646CrossRef

Kahn DF, Duffy SJ, Tomasian D, Holbrook M, Rescorl L, Russell J, Gokce N, Loscalzo J, Vita JA (2002) Effects of black race on forearm resistance vessel function. Hypertension 40:195–201. doi:10.1161/01.HYP.0000024571.69634.ED PubMedCrossRef

Lang CC, Stein CM, Brown RM, Deegan R, Nelson R, He HB, Wood M, Wood AJJ (1995) Attenuation of isoproterenol-mediated vasodilatation in blacks. N Engl J Med 333:155–160. doi:10.1056/NEJM199511303332212 PubMedCrossRef

Lewis T (1930) Observations upon the reactions of the vessels of the human skin to cold. Heart 15:177–208

Little MA, Thomas RB, Mazess RB, Baker PT (1971) Population differences and developmental changes in extremity temperature responses to cold among Andean Indians. Hum Biol 43:70–91PubMed

Mäkinen TM, Jokelainen J, Näyhä S, Laatikainen T, Jousilahti P, Hassi J (2009) Occurrence of frostbite in the general population–work-related and individual factors. Scand J Work Environ Health 35:384–393. doi:10.5271/sjweh.1349 PubMedCrossRef

Meehan JP (1955) Individual and racial variations in a vascular response to a cold stimulus. Mil Med 116:330–334PubMed

Miller D, Bjornson DR (1962) An investigation of cold injured soldiers in Alaska. Mil Med 127:247–252PubMed

Newman RW (1969) Cold acclimation in Negro Americans. J Appl Physiol 27:316–319PubMed

Perregaux D, Chaudhuri A, Rao S, Airen A, Wilson M, Sung B-H, Dandona P (2000) Brachial vascular reactivity in blacks. Hypertension 36:866–871. doi:10.1161/01.HYP.36.5.866 PubMedCrossRef

Reynolds LF, Mekjavic IB, Cheung SS (2007) Cold-induced vasodilatation in the foot is not homogenous or trainable over repeated cold exposure. Eur J Appl Physiol 102:73–78. doi:10.1007/s00421-007-0566-9 PubMedCrossRef

Roustit M, Maggi F, Isnard S, Hellmann M, Bakken B, Cracowski J-L (2010) Reproducibility of a local cooling test to assess microvascular function in human skin. Microvasc Res 79:34–39. doi:10.1016/j.mvr.2009.11.004 PubMedCrossRef

Russell KW, Imray CH, McIntosh SE, Anderson R, Galbraith D, Hudson ST, Cochran AL (2013) Kite skier’s toe: an unusual case of frostbite. Wilderness Environ Med 24:136–140. doi:10.1016/j.wem.2012.11.013 PubMedCrossRef

Stein CM, Lang CC, Nelson R, Brown M, Wood AJJ (1997) Vasodilation in black Americans: attenuated nitric oxide-mediated responses. Clin Pharmacol Ther 62:436–443PubMedCrossRef

Stein CM, Lang CC, Singh I, He HB, Wood AJJ (2000) Increased vascular adrenergic vasoconstriction and decreased vasodilation in blacks. Additive mechanisms leading to enhanced vascular reactivity. Hypertension 36:945–951. doi:10.1161/01.HYP.36.6.945 PubMedCrossRef

Stephens JP, Laight DW, Golden FSC, Tipton MJ (2009) Damage to vascular endothelium and smooth muscle contribute to the development of non-freezing cold injury in the rat tail vascular bed in vitro. In: Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Conference on Environmental Ergonomics. Boston, USA, pp 177–181

Taylor MS (1992) Cold weather injuries during peacetime military training. Mil Med 157:602–604PubMed

Treiber FA, Jackson RW, Davis H, Pollock JS, Kapuku G, Mensah GA, Pollock DM (2000) Racial differences in endothelin-1 at rest and in response to acute stress in adolescent males. Hypertension 35:722–725. doi:10.1161/01.HYP.35.3.722 PubMedCrossRef

Ungley CC, Blackwood W (1942) Peripheral vasoneuropathy after chilling “immersion foot and immersion hand”. Lancet 2:447–451CrossRef

Ungley CC, Channell GD, Richards RL (1945) The immersion foot syndrome. Wilderness Environ Med 33:17–31

Watson PJ, Latif RK, Rowbotham DJ (2005) Ethnic differences in thermal pain responses: a comparison of south Asian and white British healthy males. Pain 118:194–200. doi:10.1016/j.pain.2005.08.010 PubMedCrossRef

Yanagisawa M, Kurihara H, Kimura S, Tomobe Y, Kobayashi M, Mitsui Y, Yazaki Y, Goto K, Masaki T (1988) A novel potent vasoconstrictor peptide produced by vascular endothelial cells. Nature 332:411–415PubMedCrossRef

Yang ZH, Richard V, von Segesser L, Bauer E, Stulz P, Turina M, Luscher TF (1990) Threshold concentrations of endothelin-1 potentiate contractions to norepinephrine and serotonin in human arteries. a new mechanism of vasospasm? Circulation 82:188–195. doi:10.1161/01.CIR.82.1.188 PubMedCrossRef

Yoshimura H, Iida T (1950) Studies on the reactivity of skin vessels to extreme cold. Part I. A point test on the resistance against frostbite. Jpn J Physiol 1:147–159CrossRef

Title: The effect of ethnicity on the vascular responses to cold exposure of the extremities
Authors: Matthew J. Maley
Clare M. Eglin
James R. House
Michael J. Tipton
Publication date: 01-11-2014
Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published in: European Journal of Applied Physiology / Issue 11/2014
Print ISSN: 1439-6319
Electronic ISSN: 1439-6327
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-014-2962-2

At a glance: The STEP trials

Springer Medicine

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

Abstract

Purpose

Methods

Results

Conclusion

At a glance: The STEP trials

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Purpose

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Please log in to get access to this content

Other articles of this Issue 11/2014

Effect of countermovement on power–force–velocity profile

Post activation potentiation can be induced without impairing tendon stiffness

Influence of thigh activation on the O2 slow component in boys and men

Erratum to: Bone formation is suppressed with multi-stressor military training

Regular change in spontaneous preparative behaviour on intra-abdominal pressure and breathing during dynamic lifting

Response to Letter to the Editor: a counterweight is not necessary to implement simple, natural and comfortable single-leg cycle training