Ferguson A V, Veale W L, Cooper K E
Can J Physiol Pharmacol. 1981 Feb;59(2):91-5. doi: 10.1139/y81-016.
Sprague-Dawley rats were raised in an environmentally controlled room at 33 degrees C. Thermoregulatory responses of animals reared in this way were compared with those of control and warm-acclimated rats. Warm-reared animals demonstrated a significantly greater fall in colonic temperature during cold exposure when compared with both warm-acclimated (p less than 0.01) and control (p less than 0.001) animals. Warm-reared animals also show a modified response to central infusion of noradrenaline; they produce a hyperthermia in contrast with the hypothermia observed in control and warm-acclimated rats. These results suggest that the early thermal environment may modify the development of temperature regulation in the Sprague-Dawley rat in a way different from the normal acclimation process.
