Visual performance is impaired when the ocular blood flow decreases, indicating that ocular blood flow plays a role in maintaining visual performance during exercise. We examined the ocular blood flow response to incremental cycling exercise to test the hypothesis that ocular blood flow is relatively stable during dynamic exercise because of its autoregulatory nature. The blood flow in the inferior and superior temporal retinal arterioles (ITRA and STRA, respectively) and retinal and choroidal vessels (RCV), mean arterial pressure, and heart rate (HR) were measured at rest and during leg cycling in nine young and healthy subjects (26 ± 5 years, mean ± SD). Ocular blood flow was measured by laser speckle flowmetry. The exercise intensity was incremented by 30 W every 3 min until the subject was unable to maintain a position appropriate for measuring ocular blood flow. Blood flow data obtained during cycling exercise were categorized based on HR as follows: <100, 100-120, and >120 bpm. Blood flow in the RCV increased with the exercise intensity: by 16 ± 8, 32 ± 13, and 40 ± 19% from baseline, respectively. However, blood flow and vascular conductance in the ITRA and STRA did not change significantly with exercise. These findings demonstrate for the first time that ocular blood flow increases in the retina and choroid, but not in the arterioles, with increasing exercise intensity during dynamic exercise.

We have previously reported the unique regional responses of facial skin blood flow (SkBF) to oral application of the basic tastes without simultaneous systemic circulatory changes. In the present study, we determined whether a systemic circulatory challenge due to sympathetic activation induces regional differences in facial SkBF by observing the responses in facial SkBF and blood pressure to a 2-min cold pressor test (CPT) and static handgrip exercise (HG) by right hand in 20 healthy subjects. The CPT significantly increased SkBF in the forehead, eyelid, cheek, upper lip and lower lip by 6 ± 2 to 8 ± 2 % (mean ± SEM) as compared to resting baseline, with a significant simultaneous increase (13 ± 2 %) in mean arterial pressure (MAP), whereas it significantly decreased the SkBF in the nose by 5 ± 2 %. The HG significantly increased SkBF in the forehead, cheek and lower lip by 6 ± 3 to 10 ± 3 %, with a significant simultaneous increase in MAP (13 ± 2 %), while it induced no significant change in the other regions. Increases in SkBF were greater in the right than left cheek during CPT. These results demonstrate that a systemic circulatory challenge via sympathetic activation elicits regional differences in the facial SkBF response.

It is unclear whether exhaustive dynamic exercise increases ocular blood flow, although we have reported that submaximal exercise increases ocular blood flow. We hypothesized that ocular blood flow decreases at exhaustion, since exhaustion causes hyperventilation, which induces a reduction in PaCO(2). To test this hypothesis, ocular blood flow, blood pressure, and respiratory measurements were made in 12 healthy male subjects during cycle ergometer exercise at 75% of maximal heart rate, until exhaustion. Blood flows in the retinal and choroidal vasculature (RCV), the superior temporal retinal arteriole (STRA), and the superior nasal retinal arteriole (SNRA) were measured with the aid of laser-speckle flowgraphy every 3 min during the exercise. The conductance index (CI) in the ocular vasculature was calculated by dividing the blood flow by the mean arterial pressure (MAP). The mean arterial partial pressure of CO(2) (PaCO(2)) was estimated from tidal volume and end-tidal CO(2) partial pressure. MAP significantly increased from the resting baseline throughout the exercise, while PaCO(2) was significantly decreased at exhaustion and during the recovery period. By 6 min after the onset of exercise, blood flow velocity in the RCV significantly increased by 32 ± 6% (mean ± SD) from the resting baseline value. At exhaustion, blood flow velocity in the RCV did not differ significantly from the resting baseline value, and the STRA blood flow was significantly decreased by 13 ± 4%. The CIs in the RCV, STRA, and SNRA were significantly decreased compared to baseline at exhaustion. These findings suggest that ocular blood flow is increased by submaximal exercise, whereas it is suppressed by the hypocapnia associated with exhaustion.

It is suggested that the contributions of pressor response and vasodilatation were modified by exercise intensity, partly playing a role for stabilizing the peak response of PCAv with visual stimulation during dynamic exercise.