Citation

Kaikaew K, van den Beukel JC, Neggers SJCMM, Themmen APN, Visser JA, Grefhorst A. J. Therm. Biol. 2018; 77: 137-144.

Affiliation

Department of Internal Medicine, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, PO Box 2040, 3000 CA Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.jtherbio.2018.08.016

PMID

30196892

Abstract

To maintain a thermal balance when experiencing cold, humans reduce heat loss and enhance heat production. A potent and rapid mechanism for heat generation is shivering. Research has shown that women prefer a warmer environment and feel less comfortable than men in the same thermal condition. Using the Blanketrol^® III, a temperature management device commonly used to study brown adipose tissue activity, we tested whether the experimental temperature (T_E) at which men and women start to shiver differs. Twenty male and 23 female volunteers underwent a cooling protocol, starting at 24 °C and gradually decreasing by 1-2 °C every 5 min until an electromyogram detected the shivering or the temperature reached 9 °C. Women started shivering at a higher T_E than men (11.3 ± 1.8 °C for women vs 9.6 ± 1.8 °C for men, P = 0.003). In addition, women felt cool, scored by a visual analogue scale, at a higher T_E than men (18.3 ± 3.0 °C for women vs 14.6 ± 2.6 °C for men, P < 0.001). This study demonstrates a sex difference in response to cold exposure: women require shivering as a source of heat production earlier than men. This difference could be important and sex should be considered when using cooling protocols in physiological studies.

Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

Cold temperature; Sex characteristics; Shivering; Skin temperature; Thermogenesis; Thermosensing