Day-night changes of body temperature and feeding activity in heat-acclimated rats

Male Wistar rats were divided into two groups. The controls (CN) were kept at a constant ambient temperature (Ta) of 24 degrees C throughout the experiment. Heat-acclimated rats (HA) were subjected to Ta of 33 degrees C in the last half of the dark phase for 16 consecutive days. After the schedule was terminated, hypothalamic temperature (Thy), oxygen consumption (VO2), heat loss, and feeding activity were measured for the following 2 days at Ta of 24 degrees C with a direct calorimeter in constant darkness. Hypothalamic temperature, VO2, and heat loss of the HA were significantly lower than those of the CN for 3-4 h during the period when the rats had been previously exposed to heat. Feeding activity during the specific period was significantly less in the HA than in the CN only on the first day. Under starved conditions, the decreases of Thy and VO2 during the previous heat exposure time were consistent in the HA. The results suggest that body core temperature and feeding behavior decrease during the previous heat exposure time in rats after subjection to repeated heat exposure at a fixed time daily. The characteristic fall in body core temperature is mainly attributed to the reduction of VO2. It also seems that a decrease in postprandial thermogenesis is not a predominant contributor to the depression of VO2 during the previous heat exposure time in heat-acclimated rats.