Effects of cold acclimation and central opioid processes on thermoregulation in rats

Two experiments, using centrally administered [D-Ala2-MePhe4-Gly(ol)5]enkephalin (DAMGO), a selective mu-opioid agonist, assessed the thermoregulatory consequences of cold acclimation. Experiment 1 assessed whether cold acclimation influenced DAMGO hyperthermia at room temperature. Sialo-adenectomized rats were implanted with ICV cannulae and IP Mini-Mitters. After 3 weeks of exposure to 5 degrees C (cold acclimation) or 22 degrees C (non-cold acclimation) rats were pretreated with IP naltrexone HCl (2 mg/kg b.wt.) or vehicle (0.15 M saline) and later administered a 5-microliters ICV injection of 0.15 M saline, 0.1, or 1.0 microgram DAMGO. Cold acclimation exerted little effect on core temperature but potentiated DAMGO hyperthermia in a dose-dependent, naltrexone-reversible, activity-independent manner. Experiment 2 assessed the effect these same manipulations exerted on operant escape from a convective source of mild heat (37 degrees C). Duration of heat escape increased with cold acclimation in a naltrexone-resistant manner, yet was not influenced by DAMGO in either non-cold-acclimated or cold-acclimated rats. These findings suggest that two central adaptations occur with cold acclimation: A non-mu-opioid process that increases heat sensitivity and a mu-opioid process that potentiates hyperthermia but fails to alter heat escape due to mu-opioid-mediated analgesia.