Gender differences in tibial microvascular flow responses to head down tilt and lower body negative pressure.
The purpose of the investigation was to study lower body negative pressure recovery in response to head down tilt position in men and women. The study examined the primary hypothesis that tibial bone microvascular flow responses to HDT and lower body negative pressure (LBNP) differ in women and men. Nine women and nine men between 20 to 30 years of age participated in the study. Tibial microvascular flow, head and tibial oxygenation and calf circumference were measured using photoplethysmography (PPG), near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) and strain gauge plethysmography (SGP), respectively, during sitting (control baseline), supine, 15° HDT, and 15° HDT with 25 mmHg LBNP Tibial microvascular flow with HDT increased by 57% from supine position (from 1.4V ± 0.7 to 2.2V ± 1.0 HDT; ANOVA P < 0.05) in men but there is no significant difference between supine and HDT in women. Ten minutes of LBNP during 15o HDT restored tibial bone microvascular flows to supine levels, (from 2.2V±1.0 HDT to 1.1V ± 0.7 supine; ANOVA P < 0.05) in men but not in women. These data support the concept that there are gender specific microvascular responses to a fluid-shift countermeasure such as LBNP Thus, gender differences should be considered while developing future countermeasure strategies to headward fluid shifts in microgravity.
['Siamwala|Jamila H|JH|http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9482-9183', 'Macias|Brandon R|BR|', 'Lee|Paul C|PC|', 'Hargens|Alan R|AR|']
D000328:Adult D001794:Blood Pressure D005260:Female D018475:Head-Down Tilt D006339:Heart Rate D006801:Humans D008150:Lower Body Negative Pressure D008297:Male D055806:Microvessels D017156:Photoplethysmography D012039:Regional Blood Flow D012727:Sex Characteristics D019265:Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared D013977:Tibia D055815:Young Adult
head down tilt lower body negative pressure Bone microvascular flow oxygenation photoplethysmography limb girth spaceflight