Hypothermia attenuates cerebral dopamine overloading and gliosis in rats with heatstroke

The present study attempted to ascertain whether hypothermia attenuated the heat stroke-induced dopamine overload and gliosis in rat brain. Urethane-anesthetized rats were exposed to water blanket temperature (T(blanket)) of 42 degrees C until mean arterial pressure (MAP) began to decrease from their peak levels, which was arbitrarily defined as the onset of heat stroke. Extracellular concentrations of dopamine in brain were assessed by microdialysis methods. Hypothermia was accomplished by decreasing T(blanket) from 42 to 16 degrees C. The animals exposed to T(blanket) of 26 degrees C served as the normothermic controls. The values of MAP in heat stroke rats without hypothermia were all significantly lower than those in normothermic controls. However, the extracellular levels of dopamine and the number of glial fibrillary acidic protein-reactive cells in brain were greater. Hypothermia immediately after the onset of heat stroke reduced the heat stroke-induced circulatory shock as well as dopamine overload and gliosis in brain. The data demonstrate that hypothermia attenuates both dopamine overload and gliosis in rat brain associated with heatstroke.