Survival time in hypoxic mice: differentiation between apomorphine-induced hypothermia and antihypoxic properties.

The effects of apomorphine on survival time of mice during lethal anoxic hypoxia were studied. Apomorphine induced hypothermia and an increase in survival time. Both these effects were mediated by cerebral dopamine receptors, however with different affinity for the neuroleptics haloperidol and sulpiride. These data suggest that apomorphine's antihypoxic effect is not only mediated by the classical effect of hypothermia but also by slowing of oxydative metabolism.