Application of Multiscale Sample Entropy in Assessing Effects of Exercise Training on Skin Blood Flow Oscillations in People with Spinal Cord Injury

Entropy, 2023 · DOI: 10.3390/e25040690 · Published: April 19, 2023

Spinal Cord Injury Cardiovascular Science Rehabilitation

Simple Explanation

Spinal cord injury (SCI) disrupts the autonomic nervous system's control over the cardiovascular system, increasing the risk of cardiovascular and microvascular diseases. Exercise is generally good for reducing risk factors, but it is unclear whether exercise can improve microvascular function in people with SCI. This study compared blood flow oscillations in people with SCI who have different physical activity levels, to see if lifestyle affects skin blood flow.

Study Duration

Not specified

Participants

37 (12 athletes with SCI, 9 sedentary SCI, 16 able-bodied controls)

Evidence Level

Not specified

Key Findings

1
Blood flow oscillations (BFO) were significantly more irregular in athletes with SCI (ASCI) and able-bodied controls (AB) compared to sedentary SCI (SSCI) during maximal vasodilation.
2
The difference in the regularity of BFOs between the original SBF signal and phase-randomized surrogate time series was larger in ASCI and AB compared to SSCI.
3
SCI causes a loss of complexity of BFOs, but exercise training may improve this complexity in people with SCI.

Research Summary

This study demonstrates that blood flow oscillations (BFOs) in all groups were significantly more regular during the second peak period of SBF response induced by local heating compared to the baseline period. The degree of regularity in the ASCI group was similar to that in the AB group and significantly lower than in the SSCI group, suggesting that physical activity and exercise training could improve skin microvascular function in people with SCI. This study also found that SCI leads to an attenuated interaction among the regulatory mechanisms of sacral skin blood flow and a loss of the nonlinearity of BFOs, suggesting that a multiscale entropy approach is a sensitive method for detecting differences between different categories of participants with SCI.

Practical Implications

Exercise Benefits

Exercise training may improve complexity in people with SCI.

Assessment Tool

Multiscale entropy can detect differences in skin blood flow related to exercise training.

Cardiovascular Health

Exercise training may improve skin microvascular function in people with SCI.

Study Limitations

1
Cross-sectional study design
2
Participants with both complete and incomplete SCI were recruited
3
Multiscale sample entropy approach was used to quantify the degree of the regularity of BFOs

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