Sex differences in control of cutaneous blood flow.

Women are far more likely than men to suffer from Raynaud's disease. The purpose of this study was to determine whether there are gender differences in local or central control of cutaneous blood flow that could account for the increased incidence of Raynaud's disease in women. To assess cutaneous blood flow, hand blood flow (HBF), finger blood flow (FBF), or skin perfusion (SP) was measured by fluid plethysmography, mercury strain-gauge plethysmography, or laser Doppler spectroscopy, respectively, in 47 volunteers. Basal HBF in men exceeded that of women (12.1 +/- 2.0 versus 6.2 +/- 1.5 ml/100 ml/min). Likewise, FBF in men surpassed that of women (19.5 +/- 4.1 versus 7.7 +/- 1.8 ml/100 ml/min). Similarly, SP in men was greater than that of women (270 +/- 42 versus 81 +/- 16 perfusion units). However, after total body warming (to induce a thermal sympatholysis), HBF in women exceeded that of men, suggesting that the lower basal HBF in women was due to increased sympathetic outflow to the extremities. Mental stress and deep inspiration reduced HBF and SP in men. Paradoxically, both of these maneuvers increased HBF and SP in women. To determine whether these paradoxical responses in women were due to the women's elevated basal sympathetic tone, these experiments were repeated after total body cooling in men to increase sympathetic tone and after total body warming in women to reduce sympathetic tone. Total body cooling reduced HBF and SP in men. Under these conditions, mental stress and deep inspiration induced vasodilation. In women, total body warming for 10 minutes increased HBF.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

[1]  B. Wallin,et al.  Temperature-dependent interaction between vasoconstrictor and vasodilator mechanisms in human skin. , 1988, Acta physiologica Scandinavica.

[2]  J. Halperin,et al.  Digital vasodilatation during mental stress in patients with Raynaud's disease. , 1983, Cardiovascular research.

[3]  Olle Johansson,et al.  Peptidergic neurones , 1980, Nature.

[4]  E. Ambrosioni,et al.  Effect of temperature on cutaneous venomotor reflexes in man. , 1971, Journal of applied physiology.

[5]  W F Taylor,et al.  Laser-Doppler measurement of skin blood flow: comparison with plethysmography. , 1984, Journal of applied physiology: respiratory, environmental and exercise physiology.

[6]  R. Freedman,et al.  Sex Differences in Peripheral Vascular Adrenergic Receptors , 1987, Circulation research.

[7]  E. Hines,et al.  Raynaud's Disease Among Women and Girls , 1957, Circulation.

[8]  A. Somlyo,et al.  SARCOPLASMIC RETICULUM AND THE TEMPERATURE-DEPENDENT CONTRACTION OF SMOOTH MUSCLE IN CALCIUM-FREE SOLUTIONS , 1971, The Journal of cell biology.

[9]  J A Downey,et al.  Menopausal hot flashes: thermoregulatory, cardiovascular, and circulating catecholamine and LH changes. , 1984, Maturitas.

[10]  A. Bollinger,et al.  Finger blood flow in healthy subjects of different age and sex and in patients with primary Raynaud's disease. , 1976, Acta chirurgica Scandinavica. Supplementum.

[11]  B. Wallin,et al.  Direct evidence of neurally mediated vasodilatation in hairy skin of the human foot. , 1987, The Journal of physiology.

[12]  R. F. Whelan,et al.  Cold vasoconstriction and vasodilatation , 1951, Irish journal of medical science.

[13]  J. Cooke,et al.  Modulation of postjunctional α-adrenergic responsiveness by local changes in temperature , 1985 .

[14]  N. Flavahan,et al.  Sympathetic purinergic vasoconstriction and thermosensitivity in a canine cutaneous vein. , 1986, The Journal of pharmacology and experimental therapeutics.

[15]  P. Vanhoutte,et al.  The effect of profound cooling on adrenergic neurotransmission in canine cutaneous veins. , 1981, The Journal of physiology.

[16]  R. Cohen.  Platelet-induced neurogenic coronary contractions due to accumulation of the false neurotransmitter, 5-hydroxytryptamine. , 1985, The Journal of clinical investigation.

[17]  J. T. Shepherd,et al.  The Effect of Warming on Adrenergic Neurotransmission in Canine Cutaneous Vein , 1984, Circulation research.

[18]  E. Hines,et al.  RAYNAUD'S DISEASE AMONG MEN , 1945 .

[19]  C. Owman,et al.  Adrenergic and serotoninergic mechanisms in human hand arteries and veins studied by fluorescence histochemistry and in vitro pharmacology. , 1985, Blood vessels.

[20]  P. Vanhoutte,et al.  Influence of sex difference and oral contraceptives on forearm reactive hyperemia. , 1981, Blood vessels.

[21]  S. Brimijoin.  Stop-flow: a new technique for measuring axonal transport, and its application to the transport of dopamine-beta-hydroxylase. , 1975, Journal of neurobiology.

[22]  A. Bove,et al.  Action and localization of vasoactive intestinal peptide in the coronary circulation: evidence for nonadrenergic, noncholinergic coronary regulation. , 1986, Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

[23]  J. Cooke,et al.  Modulation of postjunctional alpha-adrenergic responsiveness by local changes in temperature. , 1985, Clinical science.

[24]  P. Vanhoutte,et al.  Depression by local cooling of 3H-norepinephrine release evoked by nerve stimulation in cutaneous veins. , 1976, Blood vessels.

[25]  W. Janssens,et al.  Instantaneous changes of alpha-adrenoceptor affinity caused by moderate cooling in canine cutaneous veins. , 1978, The American journal of physiology.

[26]  J. T. Shepherd,et al.  The blood flow through the hand during local heating, release of sympathetic vasomotor tone by indirect heating, and a combination of both , 1956, The Journal of physiology.