School of Psychology and Exercise Science, Murdoch University, Perth, 6150 Western Australia, Australia.
Eur Neuropsychopharmacol. 2013 Dec;23(12):1747-53. doi: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2013.07.013. Epub 2013 Aug 6.
The flush that develops during whole-body heat stress depends partly on prostaglandins production in the skin. Variations in the strength of this local mechanism may contribute to individual differences in susceptibility to blushing and associated anxiety. To investigate this in the present study, the anti-inflammatory agent ibuprofen (which blocks prostaglandins formation) was applied topically to a small area of the cheek in 16 participants with a fear of blushing and in another 14 without this fear. Changes in skin blood flow were monitored at the ibuprofen-treated site and at a mirror image control site while participants sang (to induce embarrassment and blushing) and during aerobic exercise (to induce flushing). The topical ibuprofen treatment inhibited increases in cheek blood flow in both groups during both of these tasks. However, increases in cheek blood flow were greater in participants with high than low fear of blushing immediately after exercise. These findings suggest that prostaglandins contribute to dilatation of facial blood vessels both during emotional arousal (embarrassment) and aerobic exercise. Furthermore, fear of blushing may be associated with mechanisms that delay the resumption of normal vascular tone after a period of vasodilatation. Whether topical ibuprofen gel is suitable for intermittent or long-term use as an aid for blushing control requires further investigation.
全身性热应激过程中出现的脸红部分取决于皮肤中前列腺素的产生。这种局部机制的强度变化可能导致脸红和相关焦虑易感性的个体差异。为了在本研究中对此进行调查，将抗炎药布洛芬（可阻断前列腺素的形成）局部应用于 16 名有脸红恐惧的参与者和另外 14 名没有这种恐惧的参与者的脸颊的一个小区域。在参与者唱歌（引起尴尬和脸红）和进行有氧运动（引起脸红）时，监测布洛芬治疗部位和镜像对照部位的皮肤血流变化。局部应用布洛芬治疗可抑制两组在这两项任务中的脸颊血流增加。然而，在运动后，高脸红恐惧参与者的脸颊血流增加大于低脸红恐惧参与者。这些发现表明，前列腺素有助于在情绪激动（尴尬）和有氧运动期间扩张面部血管。此外，脸红恐惧可能与血管扩张后恢复正常血管张力的延迟机制有关。局部应用布洛芬凝胶是否适合作为脸红控制的辅助手段进行间歇性或长期使用，还需要进一步研究。
