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Rapid vasoregulatory mechanisms in exercising human skeletal muscle: dynamic response to repeated changes in contraction intensity

Human Vascular Control Laboratory, School of Physical and Health Education, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada

Submitted 7 April 2006 ; accepted in final form 26 April 2006

We tested the hypothesis that vasoregulatory mechanisms exist in humans that can rapidly adjust muscle blood flow to repeated increases and decreases in exercise intensity. Six men and seven women (age, 24.4 ± 1.3 yr) performed continuous dynamic forearm handgrip contractions (1- to 2-s contraction-to-relaxation duty cycle) during repeated step increases and decreases in contraction intensity. Three step change oscillation protocols were examined: Slow (7 contractions per contraction intensity x 10 steps); Fast (2 contractions per contraction intensity x 15 steps); and Very Fast (1 contraction per contraction intensity x 15 steps). Forearm blood flow (FBF; Doppler and echo ultrasonography), heart rate (ECG), and mean arterial pressure (arterial tonometry) were examined for the equivalent of a cardiac cycle during each relaxation phase (FBF_relax). Mean arterial pressure and heart rate did not change during repeated step changes (P = 0.352 and P = 0.190). For both Slow and Fast conditions, relaxation phase FBF_relax adjusted immediately and repeatedly to both increases and decreases in contraction intensity, and the magnitude and time course of FBF_relax changes were virtually identical. For the Very Fast condition, FBF_relax increased with the first contraction and thereafter slowly increased over the course of repeated contraction intensity oscillations. We conclude that vasoregulatory mechanisms exist in human skeletal muscle that are capable of rapidly and repeatedly adjusting muscle blood flow with ongoing step changes in contraction intensity. Importantly, they demonstrate symmetry in response magnitude and time course with increasing versus decreasing contraction intensity but cannot adjust to very fast exercise intensity oscillations.

exercise hyperemia; muscle pump; rapid vasodilation; blood flow dynamics

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