Retinal and choroidal blood flow responses to dynamic and static exercise in humans

Abstract

Retinal and choroidal blood flows may be important to maintaining the visual function during exercise because eyesight is impaired when they are reduced. We examined the responses of the retinal and choroidal blood flows to incremental cycling and static hand griping. The retinal and choroidal blood flows and the heart rate (HR) were measured in nine subjects during a resting baseline and exercise. Retinal blood flow was measured for 4 s twice a minute by using laser speckle flowmetry. The intensity of cycling exercise was increased by 30 w every 3 minutes. Blood flow data obtained during the cycling exercise were categorized according to HR (light, <100 bpm; moderate, 100–120 bpm; and heavy, >120 bpm). The retinal and choroidal blood flow increased with increasing exercise intensity of cycling exercise by 16±8, 32±13, and 40±19 % (mean±SE) from the resting baseline during light, moderate, and heavy exercise, respectively. Hand‐grip exercise at 30 % MVC for 2 minutes increased the retinal and choroidal blood flows from the resting baseline by 20±5 %. These findings suggest that the retinal and choroidal blood flows are increased by dynamic and static exercise. (Grant of Yamaha Motor Foundation)