Assessment of Vasomotion of People With Spinal Cord Injury

Summary

Spinal cord injury (SCI), causes loss of supra-spinal control of the sympathetic nervous system and in some cases loss of sensation. As a result, people with SCI have impaired thermoregulatory system and the consequence of this thermoregulatory dysfunction, is that they cannot respond to the environmental changes. All the above lead to dysregulation in vasomotor tone, skeletal muscle shivering and sweating dysfunction. It is well known that skin plays an important role in regulating body temperature and regulates interactions between the environment and human body. A previous study in people with incomplete SCI showed that there are no differences in core temperature between patients with different level of mobility and sensation and different level of lesion, but there are significant differences in skin temperature. As mentioned above people with SCI have an impaired thermoregulatory capacity due to sudomotor and vasomotor dysfunction and that leads to greater thermal strain during rest and exercise when they expose to hot conditions. A previous study that performed exercise in people with SCI, highlights the fact that because of the impaired evaporative heat loss during exercise in hot conditions, they are in great risk. Because of this risk they propose different cooling strategies that promote evaporation such as fans and water spraying. It is therefore important to observe the thermoregulatory function (vasomotion and sudomotor) in people with SCI when they are exposed to different environments (cold, neutral and warm).

Conditions

• Spinal Cord Injuries
• Paraplegia

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Cold environment participants with spinal cord injury

In a cold environment (15-17°C and 40-50% relative humidity), participants will stay in a sited position for 20 minutes in order to collect baseline data and to allow their blood flow and body temperature adapt to the exposing environmental condition. Immediately after the baseline period participants will immerse their left hand and foot in warm water (34-36°C) for five minutes for a consistent starting (hand and foot) temperature. Following that participants will immerse their hand and foot in cold water (8°C) for 40 minutes.

BEHAVIORAL

Thermoneutral environment participants with spinal cord injury

In a thermoneutral environment (22-24°C and 40-50% relative humidity), participants will stay in a sited position for 20 minutes in order to collect baseline data and to allow their blood flow and body temperature adapt to the exposing environmental condition. Immediately after the baseline period participants will immerse their left hand and foot in warm water (34-36°C) for five minutes for a consistent starting (hand and foot) temperature. Following that participants will immerse their hand and foot in cold water (8°C) for 40 minutes.

BEHAVIORAL

Warm environment participants with spinal cord injury

In a warm environment (33-35°C and 40-50% relative humidity), participants will stay in a sited position for 20 minutes in order to collect baseline data and to allow their blood flow and body temperature adapt to the exposing environmental condition. Immediately after the baseline period participants will immerse their left hand and foot in warm water (34-36°C) for five minutes for a consistent starting (hand and foot) temperature. Following that participants will immerse their hand and foot in cold water (8°C) for 40 minutes.

BEHAVIORAL

Cold environment healthy male participants

In a cold environment (15-17°C and 40-50% relative humidity), participants will stay in a sited position for 20 minutes in order to collect baseline data and to allow their blood flow and body temperature adapt to the exposing environmental condition. Immediately after the baseline period participants will immerse their left hand and foot in warm water (34-36°C) for five minutes for a consistent starting (hand and foot) temperature. Following that participants will immerse their hand and foot in cold water (8°C) for 40 minutes.

BEHAVIORAL

Thermoneutral environment healthy male participants

In a thermoneutral environment (22-24°C and 40-50% relative humidity), participants will stay in a sited position for 20 minutes in order to collect baseline data and to allow their blood flow and body temperature adapt to the exposing environmental condition. Immediately after the baseline period participants will immerse their left hand and foot in warm water (34-36°C) for five minutes for a consistent starting (hand and foot) temperature. Following that participants will immerse their hand and foot in cold water (8°C) for 40 minutes.

BEHAVIORAL

Warm environment healthy male participants

In a warm environment (33-35°C and 40-50% relative humidity), participants will stay in a sited position for 20 minutes in order to collect baseline data and to allow their blood flow and body temperature adapt to the exposing environmental condition. Immediately after the baseline period participants will immerse their left hand and foot in warm water (34-36°C) for five minutes for a consistent starting (hand and foot) temperature. Following that participants will immerse their hand and foot in cold water (8°C) for 40 minutes.

BEHAVIORAL

Cold environment healthy female participants

In a cold environment (15-17°C and 40-50% relative humidity), participants will stay in a sited position for 20 minutes in order to collect baseline data and to allow their blood flow and body temperature adapt to the exposing environmental condition. Immediately after the baseline period participants will immerse their left hand and foot in warm water (34-36°C) for five minutes for a consistent starting (hand and foot) temperature. Following that participants will immerse their hand and foot in cold water (8°C) for 40 minutes.

BEHAVIORAL

Thermoneutral environment healthy female participants

In a thermoneutral environment (22-24°C and 40-50% relative humidity), participants will stay in a sited position for 20 minutes in order to collect baseline data and to allow their blood flow and body temperature adapt to the exposing environmental condition. Immediately after the baseline period participants will immerse their left hand and foot in warm water (34-36°C) for five minutes for a consistent starting (hand and foot) temperature. Following that participants will immerse their hand and foot in cold water (8°C) for 40 minutes.

BEHAVIORAL

Warm environment healthy female participants

In a warm environment (33-35°C and 40-50% relative humidity), participants will stay in a sited position for 20 minutes in order to collect baseline data and to allow their blood flow and body temperature adapt to the exposing environmental condition. Immediately after the baseline period participants will immerse their left hand and foot in warm water (34-36°C) for five minutes for a consistent starting (hand and foot) temperature. Following that participants will immerse their hand and foot in cold water (8°C) for 40 minutes.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• European Commission

  collaborator OTHER

• Petros Dinas

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Andreas Flouris, PhD · FAME Laboratory, Department of Exercise Science, University of Thessaly, Greece

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

NONE

Model

FACTORIAL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2019-02-01

Primary Completion

2020-07-25

Completion

2020-07-25

Countries

• Greece

Study Locations