Is peak quadriceps blood flow in humans even higher during exercise with hypoxemia?

Abstract

Blood flow (Q) to quadriceps muscles was measured by thermal dilution in six men during rest and dynamic exercise [20, 38, and 42.5-60 W (peak load)] restricted to quadriceps of one leg in normoxia (N) and hypoxemia (H; 10-11% O2). Without exception Q and quadriceps vascular conductance were higher in H. Arterial mean pressure, lactate, norepinephrine, and epinephrine all rose when work exceeded 20 W. Q in N was 0.25, 3.28, 4.27, and 5.81 l/min (rest to peak exercise) and in H was 0.25, 4.08, 5.24, and 6.58 l/min. Peak Q per 100 grams of muscle (quadriceps mass = 2.2 kg) was 273.3 (N) and 308.8 ml/min (H). Quadriceps VO2 (Q X femoral A-VO2 difference) was 25, 388, 556, and 771 ml/min (N) and 25, 390, 556, and 743 (lower peak load in H)-net mechanical efficiency was 23%. Muscle O2 delivery (Q X arterial O2 content) was unaffected by H; O2 extraction fell in H but femoral venous O2 content remained near 6 (N) and 5 ml/100 ml (H) at all workloads, in contrast to much lower values in whole body exercise. In H muscle Q can rise to even higher peak values, without apparent limit, when the mass of active muscle is too small to overwhelm the pumping capacity of the heart.