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Program in Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242
Infant rats
respond to cold exposure with increased heat production by brown
adipose tissue (BAT). BAT thermogenesis increases steadily with
increasing cold exposure, but a point occurs at which thermogenesis can
increase no further, resulting in cold-induced bradycardia. Previous
work has shown that mean arterial pressure (MAP) is maintained even
when cardiac rate decreases as much as 50% from baseline values. We
examined the neural and hormonal contributions to peripheral resistance
during cold exposure after pups were injected subcutaneously with
vehicle, an
1-adrenoceptor antagonist (prazosin; 0.5 mg/kg), an ANG II receptor antagonist (losartan; 1 mg/kg), a
vasopressin receptor antagonist (Manning compound; 0.5 mg/kg), or
simultaneous administration of all three antagonists (triple block).
Interscapular temperature, oxygen consumption, cardiac rate, and
arterial pressure were monitored as air temperature was sequentially
decreased from thermoneutral (i.e., 35°C) to 29, 23, and 17°C. Only
pups in the triple block condition exhibited significant decreases in
MAP with cooling, even though all pups exhibited substantial decreases
in cardiac rate. A followup study suggested that blockade of all three
systems was more effective than blockade of any two systems. Finally, at 17°C, ultrasonic vocalizations were accompanied by significant increases in MAP, replicating a previous finding and supporting the
hypothesis that the vocalization is the acoustic by-product of the
abdominal compression reaction, a maneuver that helps to maintain
venous return during cardiovascular challenge.
sympathetic nervous system; vasopressin; angiotensin; cardiac rate; ultrasonic vocalization; thermoregulation; blood viscosity
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