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Impaired vascular function leads to cardiovascular disease. Researchers at University of Tsukuba have found that prolonged sitting impairs forearm cutaneous vasodilation function. They also showed that alternating local skin cooling and heating mitigated this functional decline and improved the responsiveness of cutaneous vasoconstriction.

Tsukuba, Japan—Sedentary behavior occupies a substantial portion of our daily lives. However, prolonged sitting adversely impacts health, primarily by impairing vascular function—a key contributor to cardiovascular disease. Although studies have demonstrated that prolonged sitting impairs vascular function in the lower limbs, evidence regarding whether similar vascular maladaptation occurs in non-lower limb regions, such as the upper arm, remains limited. Thus, researchers examined whether prolonged sitting impaired forearm cutaneous vascular function and whether this impairment was mitigated by alternating local skin cooling and heating.

In this study, 11 healthy young adults sat for 75 min during which the skin temperature at four forearm skin sites was alternately modulated. The researchers found that prolonged sitting impaired forearm cutaneous vasodilation function. However, this effect was alleviated by alternating local skin cooling and heating. Although prolonged sitting did not influence forearm cutaneous vasoconstriction function, alternating local skin cooling and heating improved it.

These results indicate that alternating local skin cooling and heating during prolonged sitting may mitigate the decline in cutaneous vascular function. The findings are anticipated to contribute to developing novel strategies for preventing vascular function deterioration, including interventions such as ambient temperature modulation.

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This study was funded by Fujitsu General Co., Ltd.

Original Paper

Title of original paper:

Alternate Local Skin Cooling and Heating Ameliorates Impaired Forearm Skin Vasodilation Function Mediated by Prolonged Sitting

Journal:

Microvascular Research

DOI:

10.1016/j.mvr.2025.104795

Correspondence

Associate Professor FUJII Naoto
Institute of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Tsukuba

TOMITA Yudai
Master's Program in Physical Education, Health and Sport Sciences, Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba

Related Link

Institute of Health and Sport Sciences

Master's Program in Physical Education, Health and Sport Sciences, Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences