Effects of Ischemic Conditioning on Microvascular Reactivity to Single Passive Limb Movement in Young Adults: A Pilot Study

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2-2025

Publisher

Springer

Source Publication

European Journal of Applied Physiology

Source ISSN

1439-6319

Original Item ID

DOI: 10.1007/s00421-025-05717-1

Abstract

Purpose

Single passive limb movement (sPLM) of the lower extremity is a simple and clinically relevant measure of the microvascular vasodilatory response to movement. A promising stimulus to improve microvascular health is ischemic conditioning (IC). We examined whether a single session of IC could improve microvascular reactivity to sPLM in young adults.

Methods

This was a blinded, crossover, randomized clinical trial. Participants were seated in an isokinetic dynamometer that passively moved the knee 90° at a frequency of 1 Hz while superficial femoral artery leg blood flow (LBF) was measured. The absolute and the relative peak changes in LBF were calculated as the difference from baseline. The time to peak was calculated from the start of sPLM to peak LBF. The total area under the curve (AUC) was the sum of LBF above baseline during the hyperemic response. For IC, the cuff was placed around the dominant thigh and repetitively inflated (225 mmHg) for 5 min, then deflated for 5 min (total 45 min). For sham IC, the cuff was inflated to 25 mmHg. The sPLM response was re-assessed ten minutes after IC.

Results

Twelve individuals completed the study (age 27 ± 3 years, 50% female). When controlling for resting LBF, heart rate, and sex, there was an interaction effect for absolute and relative peak change in LBF (p ≤ 0.048) but not time to peak or total AUC (p ≥ 0.17).

Conclusion

We show an acute bout of IC may improve the peak vasodilatory response to sPLM, potentially due to “preconditioning” the microvasculature.

Comments

European Journal of Applied Physiology, Vol. 125, No. 6 (February 2025): 1653-1663. DOI.

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