HYPOTHERMIA INDUCED BY HYPERBARIC-OXYGEN IS NOT BLOCKED BY SEROTONIN ANTAGONISTS

Exposure to HBO causes hypothermia, bradycardia, head weaving, resting tremor, piloerection, and straub tail in rats. These physiological and behavioral responses can also be evoked by selective activation of serotonin1A (5-HT1A) receptors. The purpose of the current study was to determine if hypothermia caused by HBO is due to increased activation of 5-HT1A receptors. The levels of brain biogenic amines were measured in brain regions of Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats exposed to HBO. Exposure to HBO caused an increase in the levels of 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) in the striatum (92%, p < 0.05) and occipital-temporal cortex (116%, p < 0.05), but not in other brain regions. Exposure to HBO did not change the levels of tryptophan, serotonin (5-HT), other biogenic amines, or their metabolites. It is hypothesized that the Fawn Hood (FH) rat, which is reported to be resistant to hypothermia induced by 8-hydroxy-2-(di-n-propylamino)tetralin (8-OH-DPAT), has an abnormality of 5-HT1A receptor activity. Although the FH rat was more resistant to hypothermia induced by HBO than the SD rat, we were not able to confirm that this rat was resistant to hypothermia induced by 8-OH-DPAT. The 5-HT receptor antagonists, 1-(1H-Indol-4-yloxy)-3-[(1 -methylethyl)amino]-2-propanol (Pindolol), 1-(2-methoxyphenyl)-4-[4-(2-phthalimido)butyll piperazine hydrobromide (NAN-190), and methysergide, did not block hypothermia induced by HBO in SD rats. A series of control experiments were used to confirm that the antagonists blocked hypothermia induced by serotonin agonists. These data suggest that although HBO alters levels of the serotonin metabolite 5-HIAA in the striatum and occipital-temporal cortex of the rat brain, coincident hypothermia is not due to increased activation of 5-HT1A receptors.