Evaluation of skin microcirculation by laser Doppler flowmeter in healthy beagle dogs

The cutaneous microcirculation plays a role in various physiological processes and pathological conditions. Two non-invasive methods were used in this study to obtain reference values for cutaneous microcirculation in intact male beagles. Twenty intact male beagles were used. The experimental environments were standardized. Laser Doppler flowmetry was used to measure cutaneous blood flow, and an infrared thermometer was used to measure cutaneous temperature. The blood flow and temperature were measured from the right side of the subjects at 20 cutaneous sites. Based on the laser Doppler flowmetry, the region with the highest blood flow was the periocular region that with the lowest was the forelimb foot pad. In addition, the standard deviation of the chest wall was the highest while that of the periocular region was the lowest. For skin temperature, the inguinal region had the highest mean skin temperature and the forelimb foot pad had the lowest. The correlation coefficient between the two methods was 0.72. Similar to a previous study, the values derived from repeated measurements at the 20 regions are reproducible and can contribute to research. Compared to the results of a previous study, the temperatures of the two smallest skin regions were the same; however, no specific trend was observed. The correlation coefficient between the two methods was significantly comparable, and this good correlation can reduce their limitations and variables complementarily. In addition to possible use in human studies, accumulated resources on measurements of skin blood flow in the future will potentiate its use in the veterinary medicine field.