Body temperature rhythm and response to pyrogen in exercising and sedentary hamsters

In this study, we tested the hypothesis that daily voluntary exercise results in a chronic elevation in core temperature in the female golden hamster. Temperature and activity were measured by biotelemetry. Hamsters ran 6-7 km per night (12:12 L:D) when permitted access to wheels. No running occurred during the light periods. During the 3rd wk of running, temperatures of exercising hamsters were significantly elevated by 0.5 degree C (P less than 0.001) during the dark period and by 0.3 degree C (P less than 0.003) during the light period compared with sedentary hamsters. Cessation of running removed the difference between groups, and resumption of running restored it. Both the injection of endotoxin and the psychological stress of cage switch resulted in similar peak temperatures in exercising and sedentary hamsters despite higher pre-treatment temperatures in the exercise group. We interpret these results to support the hypothesis that regular exercise may cause an upward resetting of the set-point for body temperature.