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First published online June 16, 2004
Journal of Experimental Biology 207, 2611-2619 (2004)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2004
doi: 10.1242/jeb.01051

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Local action of exogenous nitric oxide (NO) on the skin blood flow of rock pigeons (Columba livia) is affected by acclimation and skin site

Liisa M. Peltonen^1,* and Ahti Pyörnilä²

¹ Department of Basic Veterinary Sciences, Physiology, 00014 University of Helsinki, PO Box 66, FIN 00014 Helsinki, Finland
² Department of Biology, University of Oulu, PO Box 3000, FIN 90014 Oulu, Finland

^* Author for correspondence (e-mail: liisa.m.peltonen{at}helsinki.fi)

Accepted 22 April 2004

We studied the blood flow over dorsal and abdominal, non-brooding patch skin of two groups of pigeons: one group was thermally acclimated to cold (winter-acclimatized, WAC) while the other group was acclimated to a mesic environment (thermally non-challenged, NOC). Two bilateral patches at the measurement sites were treated simultaneously with a gel containing sodium nitrate and ascorbic acid, to generate nitric oxide (NO), and a vehicle gel. Blood flow was measured by laser Doppler velocimetry. Changes induced by these treatments were calculated against basic blood flow values for the corresponding patch. The results showed that the basic blood flow over the abdominal skin patches at room temperature was higher than over the dorsal skin in both acclimation states, but comparison revealed a sustainably higher level of basic skin blood flow in the WAC pigeons. The local response to exogenous NO was non-uniform over the two skin areas measured, and a specific vasodilatory action on the abdominal microvessels was recorded in the NOC pigeons. Abdominal vasodilatation in the WAC pigeons seemed to involve other mechanisms as well as local NO-dependent ones, among which the role of cold-induced vasodilatation (CIVD) is discussed here. Interestingly, the dorsal skin seemed to be less responsive to the action of NO, irrespective of the acclimation state.

Our results show that acclimation state and skin site affect the action of exogenous NO on local skin blood flow, and we suggest that the differences reflect acclimation-induced changes in the vascularity of the skin and in its sensitivity to thermal stimuli and that the roles of the abdominal and dorsal skin are different with respect to environmental changes.

Key words: skin blood flow, nitric oxide, temperature, acclimation, cold-induced vasodilatation, laser Doppler velocimetry, pigeon, Columba livia

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