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J Appl Physiol 105: 386, 2008; doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.90323.2008
8750-7587/08 $8.00
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LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Commentary on Viewpoint: The human cutaneous circulation as a model of generalized microvascular function

TO THE EDITOR: Because of the advantages of skin-specific methodologies (i.e., combining skin laser-Doppler with iontophoresis or intradermal microdialysis), Holowatz and colleagues (1) suggest that studies of cutaneous vascular beds can provide information regarding generalized vascular function in healthy and diseased individuals. However, as Holowatz and colleagues stated in the Viewpoint, blood flow in vivo is an integrated response by multiple mechanisms. In cutaneous vascular bed, these mechanisms include thermoregulatory (skin and core temperatures) and nonthermoregulatory reflexes (blood pressure control, etc.) (2). Because the physiological function and the control mechanisms of cutaneous vessels are different from other vascular beds (e.g., muscle, coronary, and renal), skin blood flow responses to stimuli can be totally different from responses seen in these other vascular beds. For example, heat stress at rest induces pronounced cutaneous vasodilation, but causes significant vasoconstriction in the splanchnic and renal circulations (3). It is well known that the neural control mechanisms of skin blood flow are different from those for muscle vascular beds (5). Moreover, the effects of some diseases (e.g., heart failure) on the controls of cutaneous vessels are different from the other beds (e.g., muscle) (4). Thus, without validation, the results obtained from the study of cutaneous vascular beds will provide only questionable insight into the effects of a pathological condition on a noncutaneous vascular bed.

FOOTNOTES


Address for reprint requests and other correspondence: J. Cui, Penn State Heart and Vascular Institute, The Pennsylvania State Univ. College of Medicine, The Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, PA 17033 (e-mail: jcui{at}psu.edu)

REFERENCES

  1. Holowatz LA, Thompson-Torgerson CS, Kenney WL. Viewpoint: The human cutaneous circulation as a model of generalized microvascular function. J Appl Physiol; doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.00858.2007.[Free Full Text]
  2. Johnson JM, Proppe DW. Cardiovascular adjustments to heat stress. In: Handbook of Physiology: Environmental Physiology. Bethesda, MD: Am Physiol Soc, 1996, p. 215–243.
  3. Rowell LB. Human cardiovascular adjustments to exercise and thermal stress. Physiol Rev 54: 75–159, 1974.[Free Full Text]
  4. Silber DH, Sutliff G, Yang QX, Smith MB, Sinoway LI, Leuenberger UA. Altered mechanisms of sympathetic activation during rhythmic forearm exercise in heart failure. J Appl Physiol 84: 1551–1559, 1998.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  5. Vallbo AB, Hagbarth KE, Torebjork HE, Wallin BG. Somatosensory, proprioceptive, and sympathetic activity in human peripheral nerves. Physiol Rev 59: 919–957, 1979.[Free Full Text]

Jian Cui
 Penn State Heart and Vascular Institute, The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, The Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, Pennsylvania





This Article
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