title: Thermoregulatory responses in exercising rats: methodological aspects and relevance to human physiology.
abstract: Rats are used worldwide in experiments that aim to investigate the physiological responses induced by a physical exercise session. Changes in body temperature regulation, which may affect both the performance and the health of exercising rats, are evident among these physiological responses. Despite the universal use of rats in biomedical research involving exercise, investigators often overlook important methodological issues that hamper the accurate measurement of clear thermoregulatory responses. Moreover, much debate exists regarding whether the outcome of rat experiments can be extrapolated to human physiology, including thermal physiology. Herein, we described the impact of different exercise intensities, durations and protocols and environmental conditions on running-induced thermoregulatory changes. We focused on treadmill running because this type of exercise allows for precise control of the exercise intensity and the measurement of autonomic thermoeffectors associated with heat production and loss. Some methodological issues regarding rat experiments, such as the sites for body temperature measurements and the time of day at which experiments are performed, were also discussed. In addition, we analyzed the influence of a high body surface area-to-mass ratio and limited evaporative cooling on the exercise-induced thermoregulatory responses of running rats and then compared these responses in rats to those observed in humans. Collectively, the data presented in this review represent a reference source for investigators interested in studying exercise thermoregulation in rats. In addition, the present data indicate that the thermoregulatory responses of exercising rats can be extrapolated, with some important limitations, to human thermal physiology.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Fisiologia do Exercício; Departamento de Educação Física; Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais ; Belo Horizonte (MG), Brazil.
authors.forename: Samuel Penna
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Wanner
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Biologia do Exercício; Departamento de Educação Física; Universidade Federal de Viçosa ; Viçosa (MG), Brazil.
authors.forename: Thales Nicolau
authors.initials: TN
authors.lastname: Prímola-Gomes
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Fisiologia do Exercício; Departamento de Educação Física; Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais ; Belo Horizonte (MG), Brazil.
authors.forename: Washington
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Pires
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Fisiologia do Exercício; Universidade Estadual de Minas Gerais ; Ibirité (MG), Brazil.
authors.forename: Juliana Bohnen
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Guimarães
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Fisiologia do Exercício; Departamento de Educação Física; Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais ; Belo Horizonte (MG), Brazil.
authors.forename: Alexandre Sérvulo Ribeiro
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Hudson
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Fisiologia do Exercício; Departamento de Educação Física; Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais ; Belo Horizonte (MG), Brazil.
authors.forename: Ana Cançado
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Kunstetter
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Fisiologia do Exercício; Departamento de Educação Física; Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais ; Belo Horizonte (MG), Brazil.
authors.forename: Cletiana Gonçalves
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Fonseca
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Biologia do Exercício; Departamento de Educação Física; Universidade Federal de Viçosa ; Viçosa (MG), Brazil.
authors.forename: Lucas Rios
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Drummond
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Fisiologia do Exercício; Departamento de Educação Física; Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais ; Belo Horizonte (MG), Brazil.
authors.forename: William Coutinho
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Damasceno
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Fisiologia do Exercício; Departamento de Educação Física; Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais; Belo Horizonte (MG), Brazil; Centro de Formação de Professores; Universidade Federal do Recôncavo da Bahia; Amargosa (BA), Brazil.
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Teixeira-Coelho
keywords: body temperature, brain temperature; environment; exercise; heat; hyperthermia; physical exertion; rat; thermoregulation; treadmill running