Glucocorticosteroid injection is a circadian zeitgeber in the laboratory rat

Intraperitoneal temperatures were monitored by radiotelemetry to observe the thermoregulatory rhythm of male laboratory rats (Rattus norvegicus albinus) Rats received single injections of dexamethasone (as dexamethasone sodium phosphate) during constant darkness (0.1 lx) with food freely available or no food available. No phase shifts occurred following saline injection or dexamethasone at 1 mg/kg body wt. Depending on the phase of injection relative to the circadian cycle, dexamethasone at 10 mg/kg caused thermoregulatory peaks to be either delayed or advanced on the 4th and 5th day after injection. There was an insensitive interval which corresponded to subjective day. Phase shifts induced by dexamethasone during ad libitum feeding were of less magnitude than those induced during starvation. The determination of phase-shifting parameters (i.e., a phase-response curve) for hormonal substances represents a rigorous and broadly applicable technique for determining endogenous mechanisms for circadian phase control and entrainment.