Why Rudolph's nose is red: observational study
Objective To characterise the functional morphology of the nasal microcirculation in humans in comparison with reindeer as a means of testing the hypothesis that the luminous red nose of Rudolph, one of the most well known reindeer pulling Santa Claus’s sleigh, is due to the presence of a highly den...
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ftunivtroemsoe:oai:munin.uit.no:10037/25072 2023-05-15T17:39:58+02:00 Why Rudolph's nose is red: observational study Ince, Can van Kuijen, Anne-Marie Milstein, Dan M J Yürük, Koray Folkow, Lars Fokkens, Wytske J Blix, Arnoldus S 2012-12-17 https://hdl.handle.net/10037/25072 https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.e8311 eng eng BMJ. British Medical Journal Ince, van Kuijen, Milstein, Yürük, Folkow P., Fokkens, Blix as. Why Rudolph's nose is red: observational study. BMJ. British Medical Journal. 2012;345(e8311):1-6 FRIDAID 988636 doi:10.1136/bmj.e8311 0959-8146 https://hdl.handle.net/10037/25072 openAccess Copyright 2012 The Author(s) Journal article Tidsskriftartikkel 2012 ftunivtroemsoe https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.e8311 2022-05-11T22:58:43Z Objective To characterise the functional morphology of the nasal microcirculation in humans in comparison with reindeer as a means of testing the hypothesis that the luminous red nose of Rudolph, one of the most well known reindeer pulling Santa Claus’s sleigh, is due to the presence of a highly dense and rich nasal microcirculation. Design Observational study. Setting Tromsø, Norway (near the North Pole), and Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Participants Five healthy human volunteers, two adult reindeer, and a patient with grade 3 nasal polyposis. Main outcome measures Architecture of the microvasculature of the nasal septal mucosa and head of the inferior turbinates, kinetics of red blood cells, and real time reactivity of the microcirculation to topical medicines. Results Similarities between human and reindeer nasal microcirculation were uncovered. Hairpin-like capillaries in the reindeers’ nasal septal mucosa were rich in red blood cells, with a perfused vessel density of 20 (SD 0.7) mm/mm2 . Scattered crypt or gland-like structures surrounded by capillaries containing flowing red blood cells were found in human and reindeer noses. In a healthy volunteer, nasal microvascular reactivity was demonstrated by the application of a local anaesthetic with vasoconstrictor activity, which resulted in direct cessation of capillary blood flow. Abnormal microvasculature was observed in the patient with nasal polyposis. Conclusions The nasal microcirculation of reindeer is richly vascularised, with a vascular density 25% higher than that in humans. These results highlight the intrinsic physiological properties of Rudolph’s legendary luminous red nose, which help to protect it from freezing during sleigh rides and to regulate the temperature of the reindeer’s brain, factors Article in Journal/Newspaper North Pole Tromsø University of Tromsø: Munin Open Research Archive North Pole Norway Rudolph ENVELOPE(-62.433,-62.433,-64.900,-64.900) Tromsø BMJ 345 dec14 14 e8311 e8311 |
institution |
Open Polar |
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University of Tromsø: Munin Open Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftunivtroemsoe |
language |
English |
description |
Objective To characterise the functional morphology of the nasal microcirculation in humans in comparison with reindeer as a means of testing the hypothesis that the luminous red nose of Rudolph, one of the most well known reindeer pulling Santa Claus’s sleigh, is due to the presence of a highly dense and rich nasal microcirculation. Design Observational study. Setting Tromsø, Norway (near the North Pole), and Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Participants Five healthy human volunteers, two adult reindeer, and a patient with grade 3 nasal polyposis. Main outcome measures Architecture of the microvasculature of the nasal septal mucosa and head of the inferior turbinates, kinetics of red blood cells, and real time reactivity of the microcirculation to topical medicines. Results Similarities between human and reindeer nasal microcirculation were uncovered. Hairpin-like capillaries in the reindeers’ nasal septal mucosa were rich in red blood cells, with a perfused vessel density of 20 (SD 0.7) mm/mm2 . Scattered crypt or gland-like structures surrounded by capillaries containing flowing red blood cells were found in human and reindeer noses. In a healthy volunteer, nasal microvascular reactivity was demonstrated by the application of a local anaesthetic with vasoconstrictor activity, which resulted in direct cessation of capillary blood flow. Abnormal microvasculature was observed in the patient with nasal polyposis. Conclusions The nasal microcirculation of reindeer is richly vascularised, with a vascular density 25% higher than that in humans. These results highlight the intrinsic physiological properties of Rudolph’s legendary luminous red nose, which help to protect it from freezing during sleigh rides and to regulate the temperature of the reindeer’s brain, factors |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Ince, Can van Kuijen, Anne-Marie Milstein, Dan M J Yürük, Koray Folkow, Lars Fokkens, Wytske J Blix, Arnoldus S |
spellingShingle |
Ince, Can van Kuijen, Anne-Marie Milstein, Dan M J Yürük, Koray Folkow, Lars Fokkens, Wytske J Blix, Arnoldus S Why Rudolph's nose is red: observational study |
author_facet |
Ince, Can van Kuijen, Anne-Marie Milstein, Dan M J Yürük, Koray Folkow, Lars Fokkens, Wytske J Blix, Arnoldus S |
author_sort |
Ince, Can |
title |
Why Rudolph's nose is red: observational study |
title_short |
Why Rudolph's nose is red: observational study |
title_full |
Why Rudolph's nose is red: observational study |
title_fullStr |
Why Rudolph's nose is red: observational study |
title_full_unstemmed |
Why Rudolph's nose is red: observational study |
title_sort |
why rudolph's nose is red: observational study |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/10037/25072 https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.e8311 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-62.433,-62.433,-64.900,-64.900) |
geographic |
North Pole Norway Rudolph Tromsø |
geographic_facet |
North Pole Norway Rudolph Tromsø |
genre |
North Pole Tromsø |
genre_facet |
North Pole Tromsø |
op_relation |
BMJ. British Medical Journal Ince, van Kuijen, Milstein, Yürük, Folkow P., Fokkens, Blix as. Why Rudolph's nose is red: observational study. BMJ. British Medical Journal. 2012;345(e8311):1-6 FRIDAID 988636 doi:10.1136/bmj.e8311 0959-8146 https://hdl.handle.net/10037/25072 |
op_rights |
openAccess Copyright 2012 The Author(s) |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.e8311 |
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BMJ |
container_volume |
345 |
container_issue |
dec14 14 |
container_start_page |
e8311 |
op_container_end_page |
e8311 |
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1766140725528887296 |