ArticleJournal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985)2016
Passive heat therapy improves cutaneous microvascular function in sedentary humans via improved nitric oxide-dependent dilation.
Article in Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985), 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 4 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 69 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Effect of Local Heat Stress Via Leg Bath on Artery Function
The Effects of 8 Weeks of Lower Limb Heat Therapy, Moderate-intensity Cycling Exercise, or Both on Vascular Function in Young, Healthy Males and Females
Cardioprotective Benefit of Passive Heat Therapy in Higher-Level Spinal Cord Injury: Safety and Proof of Concept
Targeting Hypertension and Insulin Resistance With Heat Therapy
Who cites it
69 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 145 citations in OpenAlex.
- The effects of hot-water immersion on cardiovascular and cardiorespiratory health of healthy adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Physiological reports · 2026Pooled it
- Meta-analysis of heat-induced changes in cardiac function from over 400 laboratory-based heat exposure studies.Nature communications · 2025Pooled it
- Passive heating and glycaemic control in non-diabetic and diabetic individuals: A systematic review and meta-analysis.PloS one · 2019Pooled it
- No effect of either heat therapy or aerobic exercise training on blood pressure in adults with untreated hypertension: a randomized clinical trial.Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985) · 2025Trial
- Effects of home-based leg heat therapy on walking performance in patients with symptomatic peripheral artery disease: a pilot randomized trial.Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985) · 2022Trial
- Trial
- Passive heat therapy protects against endothelial cell hypoxia-reoxygenation via effects of elevations in temperature and circulating factors.The Journal of physiology · 2018Trial
- Acute effects of sauna bathing on cardiovascular function.Journal of human hypertension · 2018Trial
- Acute hot water immersion is protective against impaired vascular function following forearm ischemia-reperfusion in young healthy humans.American journal of physiology. Regulatory, integrative and comparative physiology · 2016Trial
- Comparison between exercise and hot water immersion on skin microvascular responses in older adults with overweight and obesity.European journal of applied physiology · 2026Article
- Comparison between exercise and hot water immersion on skin microvascular responses in older adults with overweight and obesity.European journal of applied physiology · 2026Article
- Far-Infrared Therapy: Mechanisms of Action.Circulation reports · 2026Review
- Radon balneotherapy in rheumatologic diseases: potential mechanisms and implications for cardiovascular autonomic control and inflammation.Clinical rheumatology · 2026Review
- Identifying the interaction between skin temperature, maintained thermal comfort, and conduit artery shear rate through limb passive heating.Physiological reports · 2026Article
- Passive heat therapy is feasible but does not affect cardiometabolic health outcomes in persons with spinal cord injury - a pilot study.Experimental physiology · 2026Article
- The effect of repeated hot water immersion on microvascular function, glycaemic control and inflammation in White European and South Asian males.Experimental physiology · 2026Article
- Heat Therapy: Targeting Health, Disease, and Disability.Comprehensive Physiology · 2026Review
- Cutaneous microvascular function is reduced in winter compared with summer in healthy young adults.Physiological reports · 2026Article
- Impact of heat exposure during immobilization-induced de-training and re-training on aerobic capacity and haemoglobin mass.Experimental physiology · 2026Article
- Superficial heat therapy in women's health.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Review
9 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Passive heat therapy (repeated hot tub or sauna use) reduces cardiovascular risk, but its effects on the mechanisms underlying improvements in microvascular function have yet to be studied. We investigated the effects of heat therapy on microvascular function and whether improvements were related to changes in nitric oxide (NO) bioavailability using cutaneous microdialysis. Eighteen young, sedentary, otherwise healthy subjects participated in 8 wk of heat therapy (hot water immersion to maintain rectal temperature ≥38.5°C for 60 min/session; n = 9) or thermoneutral water immersion (sham, n = 9), and participated in experiments before and after the 8-wk intervention in which forearm cutaneous hyperemia to 39°C local heating was assessed at three microdialysis sites receiving 1) Lactated Ringer's (Control), 2) N(ω)-nitro-l-arginine (l-NNA; nonspecific NO synthase inhibitor), and 3) 4-hydroxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl (Tempol), a superoxide dismutase mimetic. The arm used for microdialysis experiments remained out of the water at all times. Data are means ± SE cutaneous vascular conductance (CVC = laser Doppler flux/mean arterial pressure), presented as percent maximal CVC (% CVCmax). Heat therapy increased local heating plateau from 42 ± 6 to 53 ± 6% CVCmax (P < 0.001) and increased NO-dependent dilation (difference in plateau between Control and l-NNA sites) from 26 ± 6 to 38 ± 4% CVCmax (P < 0.01), while no changes were observed in the sham group. When data were pooled across all subjects at 0 wk, Tempol had no effect on the local heating response (P = 0.53 vs. Control). There were no changes at the Tempol site across interventions (P = 0.58). Passive heat therapy improves cutaneous microvascular function by improving NO-dependent dilation, which may have clinical implications.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.