Respiration Effect on Peripheral Microcirculation Dynamics

We investigated the correlation between changes in PM and breathing using a commercial device that guides its user from normal- to slow breathing. Capillary blood flow and transcutaneous oxygen tension (tcPO2) signals were measured before, during and after the breathing guiding. We investigated the interaction between respiration and the PM-related measures at different respiration rates. We found that 1) Respiration entrained dynamically the capillary flow at respiration rate of 6-8 breaths/min but not at other rates, and 2) As respiration became slow tcPO2 increased if it initial level was high and decreased if initially low. These results enhance our insight regarding the manner, in which skin blood flow is controlled by respiration at an individual subject and therefore may have important clinical potential regarding the PM functionality under various physiological and clinical conditions.