title: Body temperature regulation and thermoneutrality in rats.
abstract: Various concepts of thermoneutrality were considered for a proposed study of the role of hypothalamic amines in temperature regulation of rats. The classic definition, the ambient temperature over which metabolic rate is minimum and constant, gave a range of approximately 28 to 32 degrees C. However, within this temperature range rats were inactive, the inactivity apparently representing a behavioural response to heat stress and itself responsible for the reduced metabolic rate; certain thermoregulatory effectors were also activated to increase heat loss. Therefore an alternative range, 18.0 +/- 1.9 (mean +/- S.D.) to 28.1 +/- 1.0 degrees C, was defined in which rats displayed normal activity, behavioural thermoregulations being absent.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D001833:Body Temperature Regulation / Q000187:drug effects; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000494:pharmacology; D006120:Grooming; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity; D051381:Rats; D013696:Temperature; D014867:Water / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D014867:Water; D002245:Carbon Dioxide