Stress-induced rise of body temperature in rats is the same in warm and cool environments.
Several forms of psychological stress result in a rise in body temperature in rats. In this study, we report that rats housed at a low ambient temperature (11.1 degrees C) develop stress-induced rises in body temperature that do not differ from the responses seen when the animals are kept at a temperature within their thermoneutral zone (24.7 degrees C). These data support the hypothesis that stress-induced "hyperthermia" is a regulated rise in temperature (i.e., a rise in thermoregulatory "set-point," or fever), and is not simply the result of metabolic changes associated with the stress response itself.
Long
N C
NC
Department of Physiology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor 48109.
Vander
A J
AJ
Kluger
M J
MJ
D000818:Animals; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology*; D001833:Body Temperature Regulation / Q000502:physiology*; D003080:Cold Temperature; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology; D011603:Psychophysiology; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D012931:Social Environment