Body temperature effects on hypoxic and hypercapnic responses in awake rats.

During surgery under pentobarbital sodium anesthesia, 20 rats had heat exchange devices implanted into their abdominal cavity. After recovery, 14 rats underwent two sets of trials, one in which body core temperature (Tbc) was lowered to 34.5-35.5 degrees C and another in which Tbc was raised to 40.5-41.5 degrees C. Rats breathed air and hypoxic (15, 11, and 7% O2 in N2) and hypercapnic (2, 4, and 6% CO2 in air) gas mixtures. Respiratory responses were measured using a barometric method and compared with data from the same rats breathing the gas mixtures at normal Tbc (37.5-38.5 degrees C) before surgery. The six remaining rats served as controls (Tbc unchanged). Lowering Tbc increased respiration in air, whereas heating had no effect. Hypothermia and severe hypoxia combined to inhibit respiration when compared with breathing air at lowered Tbc or low O2 at normal Tbc. The CO2 response slope became steeper when Tbc was raised, suggesting an increased CO2 sensitivity. Possible sites for the hypothermia-hypoxia interaction and the hyperthermia-hypercapnia interaction are discussed.