title: Temperature dependence of ethanol depression in mice: dose response.
abstract: Manipulation of body temperature during intoxication significantly alters brain sensitivity to ethanol. The current study tested the generality of this effect within the hypnotic dose range. Drug naive, male C57BL/6J mice were injected with 3.2, 3.6, or 4.0 g/kg ethanol (20% w/v) and were exposed to 1 of 7 designated temperatures from 13 degrees to 34 degrees C to manipulate body temperature during intoxication. Rectal temperature at return of righting reflex (RORR) was significantly, positively correlated with loss of righting reflex (LORR) duration and significantly, negatively correlated with blood ethanol concentration (BEC) at RORR at all three doses. These results indicate that increasing body temperature during intoxication increased ethanol sensitivity in C57 mice at all three doses tested and demonstrate the generality of temperature dependence across hypnotic doses in these animals. Interestingly, the LORR duration was dose-dependent at each ambient temperature, but the degree of body temperature change and the BEC at RORR were not dose-dependent. Overall, these results emphasize the importance of body temperature as a variable in ethanol research.
authors.affiliation: Alcohol and Brain Research Laboratory, School of Pharmacy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles 90033.
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Finn
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Syapin
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bejanian
authors.forename: B L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Alkana
mesh_terms: D000064:Acclimatization / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D000435:Alcoholic Intoxication / Q000503:physiopathology*; D000818:Animals; D001833:Body Temperature Regulation / Q000502:physiology*; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects / Q000503:physiopathology; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D000431:Ethanol / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL
chemical_list: D000431:Ethanol