Ergotoxine Hyper- and Hypothermia in Albino Rats. ∗

Abstract

Summary

Intraperitoneal administration of ergotoxine to albino rats has consistently resulted in hyperthermic reactions when the environmental temperature has been 28° C or higher. When ergotoxine-treated rats were placed in an environment whose temperature varied between 5° and 8° C, hypothermia always resulted; this was true of immediate exposure and of exposure subsequent to and during hyperthermia. Environmental temperatures between 22° and 25° C were sometimes conducive to moderate rises in temperature and sometimes to moderate falls; these changes were of short duration and were followed by long periods in which the body temperature remained within a very narrow range. Urethane given in conjunction with ergotoxine eliminated the hyperthermic effect. Subcutaneous administration of ergotoxine gave rise to less dramatic hyperthermic responses and to hypothermia (in cold environments) that was essentially the same as that elicted by intraperitoneal injection.