2007, Piran, Slovenia

Non-thermal factors
CHANGES IN BLOOD FLOW IN THE SUPERFICIAL AND DEEP
VEINS OF THE UPPER ARM DURING LEG EXERCISE IN HUMANS
1 Anna Ooue, 2 Tomoko K Ichinose, 3 Tadashi Saitoh, 2 Yoshimitsu Inoue, 4 Takeshi Nishiyasu,
3 Shunsaku Koga, 1 Narihiko Kondo
1 Kobe University, Kobe, 2 Osaka International University, Osaka, 3 Kobe Design University,
Kobe, 4 University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan
Contact person: kondo@kobe-u.ac.jp
INTRODUCTION
The maintenance of a constant internal temperature during dynamic exercise is important; in
this regard, the control of skin blood flow (SkBF), especially in the forearm, has been
investigated in earlier studies (Johnson et al. 1974; Wenger et al. 1975). However, the
changes that occur in the blood flow (BF) in veins of the upper arm, which return the SkBF
from the forearm to the heart, during exercise are not well understood. Superficial and deep
veins function as conduit vessels in the upper arm. Roddie et al. (1956) reported that the BF
in superficial veins arises mainly from the skin of the forearm, while the BF in deep veins
comes from the muscles of the forearm. Moreover, the BF response in the superficial veins of
the forearm is different from that in the deep veins during brief periods of leg cycling exercise
(Bevegard and Shepherd 1965). Thus, it is necessary to investigate the BF changes in the
superficial and deep veins of the upper arm that occur during prolonged leg cycling exercise.
Additionally, the relationship between internal temperature and SkBF in the forearm have
been used to investigate the SkBF response during leg exercise (Johnson et al. 1974; Wenger
et al. 1975). The BF in the basilic vein (superficial vein) of the upper arm was also found to
increase with a rise in internal temperature (Ooue et al. 2007). Thus, the BF response in the
superficial and deep veins should be evaluated with regard to the internal temperature.
The BF response in veins has been investigated by measuring the oxygen saturation of blood,
but this method cannot continuously, non-invasively and absolutely measure the BF. On the
other hand, Doppler ultrasound has been used to continuously, non-invasively and absolutely
assess BF, in particular in the conduit vessels of humans. This procedure could be used to
perform a detailed evaluation of the BF in conduit vessels by measuring the blood velocity
(V) and diameter (D). Thus, in this study, we sought to investigate changes in BF variables
(BF, V and D) in the superficial and deep veins of the upper arm during constant prolonged
leg exercise, and to examine the effect of exercise intensity on these BF variables. To address
these issues, we used Doppler ultrasound to measure V and D in the basilic vein (superficial
vein) and brachial vein (deep vein) of an inactive upper arm during leg exercise.
METHODS
A total of 14 healthy subjects (12 men and 2 women) volunteered to participate in this study.
The experiment was conducted in an environmental chamber maintained at an ambient
temperature of 28ºC and a relative humidity of 50%. After collecting baseline data, each
subject was placed in the supine position and asked to perform a leg cycling exercise at 40%
(L) and 60–69% of maximal O2 uptake (H) for 30 min, respectively.
The measurements included esophageal temperature (Tes), local skin temperature, heart rate,
arterial blood pressure, SkBF in the forearm, and V and D in the basilic and brachial veins of
an upper arm. The SkBF was continuously measured at three sites on the forearm using laser-
Doppler velocimetry, and the SkBF values obtained at the three sites were averaged. The
cutaneous vascular conductance was calculated from the ratio of SkBF to mean arterial blood
pressure. The V and D in both veins of the upper arm were measured by Doppler ultrasound,
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