title: Emotional hyperthermia in spontaneously hypertensive rats.
abstract: Basal body temperature of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) was found to be significantly elevated compared to normotensive Wistar Kyoto rats (WKR). The hypothermic response to low doses of the alpha 2-receptor agonist clonidine was significantly smaller in SHR compared to WKR. In contrast, the thermoregulatory response of SHR to a non-noxious stressor was heightened. We propose that the elevated basal temperature observed in SHR is not due to an impaired thermolysis but the result of a noradrenaline-mediated hyperreactivity to environmental stress, e.g. handling of the animals during the temperature measurement procedure.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001831:Body Temperature; D003000:Clonidine / Q000494:pharmacology; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D006973:Hypertension / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D011918:Rats, Inbred SHR; D012149:Restraint, Physical
chemical_list: D003000:Clonidine