查看文章

Hypothermia is a response to hypoxia that occurs in organisms ranging from protozoans to mammals, but very little is known about the mechanisms involved. Recently, the NO pathway has been suggested to be involved in thermoregulation. In the present study, we assessed the participation of nitric oxide in hypoxia-induced hypothermia by means of NO synthase inhibition using NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME). The rectal temperature of awake, unrestrained rats was measured before and after hypoxia or L-NAME injection or both treatments together. Control animals received saline injections of the same volume. We observed a significant (P < 0.05) reduction in body temperature of 1.32 +/- 0.36 degrees C after hypoxia (7% inspired O2) and of 0.96 +/- 0.42 degree C after L-NAME (30 mg/kg body wt) injected intravenously. When the two treatments were combined, no significant difference in body …