Cold perception and cutaneous microvascular response to local cooling at different cooling temperatures

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of quantitatively measured cold perception (CP) thresholds on microcirculatory response to local cooling as measured by direct and indirect response of laser-Doppler (LD) flux during local cooling at different temperatures.The CP thresholds were measured in 18 healthy males using the Marstock method (thermode placed on the thenar). The direct (at the cooling site) and indirect (on contralateral hand) LD flux responses were recorded during immersion of the hand in a water bath at 20 °C, 15 °C, and 10 °C.The cold perception threshold correlated (linear regression analysis, Pearson correlation) with the indirect LD flux response at cooling temperatures 20 °C (r = 0.782, p < 0.01) and 15 °C (r = 0.605, p < 0.01). In contrast, there was no correlation between the CP threshold and the indirect LD flux response during cooling in water at 10 °C.The results demonstrate that during local cooling, depending on the cooling temperature used, cold perception threshold influences indirect LD flux response.

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► During indirect microvascular response to cold, sympathetic vasomotor reflexes prevail.
► Cold perception threshold correlates with indirect microvascular response to cold.
► The correlation depends on the cooling temperature used.