Time course of induction of a heat shock gene (hsp70) in the rabbit cerebellum after LSD in vivo: involvement of drug-induced hyperthermia.

In situ hybridization studies were carried out to determine whether induction of hsp70 mRNA in various cellular layers of the rabbit cerebellum was due to hyperthermic effects of the psychotropic drug LSD. Results indicated that induction was not present when LSD-induced hyperthermia was blocked. The pattern of induction of hsp70 mRNA in various cell types of the cerebellum was similar when hyperthermia was induced by either drug (LSD) or nondrug means (placement of animals in a warm incubator). A time course analysis of the induction of hsp70 mRNA following LSD-induced hyperthermia revealed maximal levels of mRNA at 1 hr in all cerebellar cell layers except the Purkinje layer where highest levels were attained at 5 hr. By 10 hr hsp70 mRNA had returned to constitutive levels in all cellular layers of the cerebellum.