Cold hardening modulates K+ homeostasis in the brain of Drosophila melanogaster during chill coma.

Environmental temperature is one of the most important abiotic factors affecting insect behaviour; virtually all physiological processes, including those which regulate nervous system function, are affected. At both low and high temperature extremes insects enter a coma during which individuals do not display behaviour and are unresponsive to stimulation. We investigated neurophysiological correlates of chill and hyperthermic coma in Drosophila melanogaster. Coma resulting from anoxia causes a profound loss of K(+) homeostasis characterized by a surge in extracellular K(+) concentration (K(+)) in the brain. We recorded K(+) in the brain during exposure to both low and high temperatures and observed a similar surge in K(+) which recovered to baseline concentrations following return to room temperature. We also found that rapid cold hardening (RCH) using a cold pretreatment (4°C for 2h; 2h recovery at room temperature) increased the peak brain K(+) reached during a subsequent chill coma and increased the rates of accumulation and clearance of K(+). We conclude that RCH preserves K(+) homeostasis in the fly brain during exposure to cold by reducing the temperature sensitivity of the rates of homeostatic processes.