Oxygen consumption in skeletal muscle using single-distance, multi-distance and dual-slope data from frequency-domain near-infrared spectroscopy

Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) can be used to measure muscle oxygen consumption (mVO2) using arterial occlusions. The recovery rate of mVO2after exercise can provide an index of skeletal muscle mitochondrial function. The purpose of this study was to test the influence of exercise modality and intensity on NIRS measurements of mitochondrial function. Three experiments were performed. Thirty subjects (age: 18–27 yr) were tested. NIRS signals were corrected for blood volume changes. The recovery of mVO2after exercise was fit to a monoexponential curve, and a rate constant was calculated (directly related to mitochondrial function). No differences were found in NIRS rate constants for VOL and ES exercises (2.04 ± 0.57 vs. 2.01 ± 0.59 min−1for VOL and ES, respectively; P = 0.317). NIRS rate constants were independent of the contraction frequency for both VOL and ES (VOL: P = 0.166 and ES: P = 0.780). ES current intensity resulted in significant changes to the normalized time-tension integral (54 ± 11, 82 ± 7, and 100 ± 0% for low, medium, and high currents, respectively; P < 0.001) but did not influence NIRS rate constants (2.02 ± 0.54, 1.95 ± 0.44, 2.02 ± 0.46 min−1for low, medium, and high currents, respectively; P = 0.771). In summary, NIRS measurements of skeletal muscle mitochondrial function can be compared between VOL and ES exercises and were independent of the intensity of exercise. NIRS represents an important new technique that is practical for testing in research and clinical settings.

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Noninvasive measurement of forearm blood flow and oxygen consumption by near-infrared spectroscopy

Journal of Applied Physiology ◽

10.1152/jappl.1994.76.3.1388 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 76 (3) ◽

pp. 1388-1393 ◽

Cited By ~ 193

Author(s):

R. A. De Blasi ◽

M. Ferrari ◽

A. Natali ◽

G. Conti ◽

A. Mega ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Blood Flow ◽

Oxygen Consumption ◽

Infrared Spectroscopy ◽

Near Infrared Spectroscopy ◽

Healthy Subjects ◽

Near Infrared ◽

Forearm Blood Flow ◽

Vascular Occlusion ◽

Venous Occlusion ◽

The Subject

We applied near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) for the simultaneous measurement of forearm blood flow (FBF) and oxygen consumption (VO2) in the human by inducing a 50-mmHg venous occlusion. Eleven healthy subjects were studied both at rest and after hand exercise during vascular occlusion. FBF was also measured by strain-gauge plethysmography. FBF measured by NIRS was 1.9 +/- 0.8 ml.100 ml-1.min-1 at rest and 8.2 +/- 2.9 ml.100 ml-1.min-1 after hand exercise. These values showed a correlation (r = 0.94) with those obtained by the plethysmography. VO2 values were 4.6 +/- 1.3 microM O2 x 100 ml-1.min-1 at rest and 24.9 +/- 11.2 microM O2 x 100 ml-1.min-1 after hand exercise. The scatter of the FBF and VO2 values showed a good correlation between the two variables (r = 0.93). The results demonstrate that NIRS provides the particular advantage of obtaining the contemporary evaluation of blood flow and VO2, allowing correlation of these two variables by a single maneuver without discomfort for the subject.

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