Regional skin wetness perception and its modulation by warm and cold whole body skin temperatures in people with multiple sclerosis

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Christogianni, A., Bibb, R. ORCID: 0000-0002-3975-389X, Filtness, A. and Filingeri, D., 2022. Regional skin wetness perception and its modulation by warm and cold whole body skin temperatures in people with multiple sclerosis. American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, 323 (5), R648-R660. ISSN 0363-6119

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpregu.00149.2022

Abstract

Skin wetness sensing is important for thermal stress resilience. Individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS) present greater vulnerability to thermal stress; yet, it is unclear whether they present wetness-sensing abnormalities. We investigated the effects of MS on wetness sensing and their modulation with changes in mean skin temperature (Tsk). Twelve participants with MS [5 males (M)/7 females (F); 48.3 ± 10.8 yr; Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) range: 1–7] and 11 healthy controls (4 M/7 F; 47.5 ± 11.3 yr) undertook three trials, during which they performed a quantitative sensory test with either a thermoneutral (30.9°C), warm (34.8°C), or cold (26.5°C) mean Tsk. Participants reported on visual analog scales local wetness perceptions arising from the static and dynamic application of a cold-, neutral-, and warm-wet probe (1.32 cm2; water content: 0.8 mL), to the index finger pad, forearm, and forehead. Data were analyzed for the group-level effect of MS, as well as for its individual variability. Our results indicated that MS did not alter skin wetness sensitivity at a group level, across the skin sites and temperature tested, neither under normothermia nor under conditions of shifted thermal state. However, when taking an individualized approach to profiling wetness-sensing abnormalities in MS, we found that 3 of the 12 participants with MS (i.e., 25% of the sample) presented a reduced wetness sensitivity on multiple skin sites and to different wet stimuli (i.e., cold, neutral, and warm wet). We conclude that some individuals with MS may possess reduced wetness sensitivity; however, this sensory symptom may vary greatly at an individual level. Larger-scale studies are warranted to characterize the mechanisms underlying such individual variability.

Item Type:

Journal article

Publication Title:

American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology

Creators:

Christogianni, A., Bibb, R., Filtness, A. and Filingeri, D.

Publisher:

American Physiological Society

Date:

1 November 2022

Volume:

323