Multifractal analysis of nonlinear complexity of sacral skin blood flow oscillations in older adults

The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between cutaneous vasodilatory function and nonlinear complexity of blood flow oscillations (BFO) in older people. A non-painful fast local heating protocol was applied to the sacral skin in 20 older subjects with various vasodilatory functions. Laser Doppler flowmetry was used to measure skin blood oscillations. The complexity of the characteristic frequencies (i.e., metabolic (0.0095–0.02 Hz), neurogenic (0.02–0.05 Hz), myogenic (0.05–0.15 Hz), respiratory (0.15–0.4 Hz), and cardiac (0.4–2 Hz)) of BFO was quantified using the multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis. Compared with the 65–75 years group, the complexity of metabolic BFO in the 75–85 years group was significantly lower at the baseline (P < 0.05) and the second peak (P < 0.001). Compared with baseline BFO, subjects in the 65–75 years group had a significant increase in the complexity of metabolic BFO (P < 0.01) in response to local heating; while subjects in the 75–85 years group did not. Our findings support the use of multifractal analysis to assess aging-related microvascular dysfunction.