Noninvasive optical characterization of muscle blood flow, oxygenation, and metabolism in women with fibromyalgia

Yu Shang, Katelyn Gurley, Brock Symons, Douglas Long, Ratchakrit Srikuea, Leslie J. Crofford, Charlotte A. Peterson, Guoqiang Yu

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

49 Scopus citations

Abstract

Introduction: Women with fibromyalgia (FM) have symptoms of increased muscular fatigue and reduced exercise tolerance, which may be associated with alterations in muscle microcirculation and oxygen metabolism. This study used near-infrared diffuse optical spectroscopies to noninvasively evaluate muscle blood flow, blood oxygenation and oxygen metabolism during leg fatiguing exercise and during arm arterial cuff occlusion in post-menopausal women with and without FM.Methods: Fourteen women with FM and twenty-three well-matched healthy controls participated in this study. For the fatiguing exercise protocol, the subject was instructed to perform 6 sets of 12 isometric contractions of knee extensor muscles with intensity steadily increasing from 20 to 70% maximal voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC). For the cuff occlusion protocol, forearm arterial blood flow was occluded via a tourniquet on the upper arm for 3 minutes. Leg or arm muscle hemodynamics, including relative blood flow (rBF), oxy- and deoxy-hemoglobin concentration ([HbO2] and [Hb]), total hemoglobin concentration (THC) and blood oxygen saturation (StO2), were continuously monitored throughout protocols using a custom-built hybrid diffuse optical instrument that combined a commercial near-infrared oximeter for tissue oxygenation measurements and a custom-designed diffuse correlation spectroscopy (DCS) flowmeter for tissue blood flow measurements. Relative oxygen extraction fraction (rOEF) and oxygen consumption rate (rVO2) were calculated from the measured blood flow and oxygenation data. Post-manipulation (fatiguing exercise or cuff occlusion) recovery in muscle hemodynamics was characterized by the recovery half-time, a time interval from the end of manipulation to the time that tissue hemodynamics reached a half-maximal value.Results: Subjects with FM had similar hemodynamic and metabolic response/recovery patterns as healthy controls during exercise and during arterial occlusion. However, tissue rOEF during exercise in subjects with FM was significantly lower than in healthy controls, and the half-times of oxygenation recovery (Δ[HbO2] and Δ[Hb]) were significantly longer following fatiguing exercise and cuff occlusion.Conclusions: Our results suggest an alteration of muscle oxygen utilization in the FM population. This study demonstrates the potential of using combined diffuse optical spectroscopies (i.e., NIRS/DCS) to comprehensively evaluate tissue oxygen and flow kinetics in skeletal muscle.

Original languageEnglish
Article numberR236
JournalArthritis Research and Therapy
Volume14
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 1 2012

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This project was supported by grant number R21 AG34279 from NIA/NIH and by NCRR/NCATS/NIH, through grant number UL1RR033173. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH. We also thank Leigh Callahan, Joshua Ford and Jonah Lee for beneficial discussions.

Funding

This project was supported by grant number R21 AG34279 from NIA/NIH and by NCRR/NCATS/NIH, through grant number UL1RR033173. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH. We also thank Leigh Callahan, Joshua Ford and Jonah Lee for beneficial discussions.

FundersFunder number
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
National Institute on AgingR21AG034279
National Institute on Aging
National Center for Research Resources
National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS)UL1RR033173, UL1TR000117
National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS)

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Rheumatology
    • Immunology and Allergy
    • Immunology

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