Article
Effects of cold acclimation and central opioid processes on thermoregulation in rats

https://doi.org/10.1016/0091-3057(95)02124-8Get rights and content

Abstract

Two experiments, using centrally administered [d-Ala2-MePhe4-Gly(ol)5]enkephalin (DAMGO), a selective μ-opioid agonist, assessed the thermoregulatory consequences of cold acclimation. Experiment 1 assessed whether cold acclimation influenced DAMGO hyperthermia at room temperature. Sialoadenectomized rats were implanted with ICV cannulae and IP Mini-Mitters. After 3 weeks of exposure to 5 °C (cold acclimation) or 22 °C (non-cold acclimation) rats were pretreated with IP naltrexone HC1 (2 mg/kg b.wt.) or vehicle (0.15 M saline) and later administered a 5-μI ICV injection of 0.15 M saline, 0.1, or 1.0 μg DAMGO. Cold acclimation exerted little effect on core temperature but potentiated DAMGO hyperthermia in a dose-dependent, naltrexone-reversible, activity-independent manner. Experiment 2 assessed the effect these same manipulations exerted on operant escape from a convective source of mild heat (37 °C). Duration of heat escape increased with cold acclimation in a naltrexone-resistant manner, yet was not influenced by DAMGO in either non-cold-acclimated or cold-acclimated rats. These findings suggest that two central adaptations occur with cold acclimation: A non-μ-opioid process that increases heat sensitivity and a μ-opioid process that potentiates hyperthermia but fails to alter heat escape due to μ-opioid-mediated analgesia.

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      Therefore, the major aim of the present study was to investigate whether NMDA receptors contribute to the hyperthermia evoked by morphine. We investigated whether dextromethorphan, a blocker of NMDA receptor-gated channels and voltage-sensitive calcium channels [31], or LY 235959, a highly selective and competitive NMDA receptor antagonist [3], would attenuate the hyperthermia produced by morphine or [d-Ala2-MePhe4-Gly(ol)5]enkephalin (DAMGO), a selective mu-opioid agonist [38]. All animal use procedures were conducted in strict accordance with the NIH Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals and were approved by the Temple University Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee.

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