Abstract
The hypothermic effect of d-amphetamine was investigated in rats in which vasoconstriction or vasodilation was induced by pharmacological agents: aramine as vasoconstrictor and neprasol as vasodilator. The d-amphetamine-induced hypothermia was enhanced by both drugs among rats kept at 4°C, and both drugs were unable to modify the d-amphetamine-induced hypothermia. These results indicate that although vasoconstriction and vasodilation play a major role in thermoregulation, d-amphetamine-induced hypothermia is not mediated peripherally by vasoconstriction. Since changes in basal metabolic rate, motor activity, food intake and vasoconstriction are not the peripheral mechanisms by which d-amphetamine induced hypothermia, the mechanism is still unknown.
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Notes on contributors
Yehuda Ben-Uriah
Joyce Laing works in the Department of Child and Family Psychiatry, Playfield House, Cupar, Fife, and is a Consultant Art Therapist to Psychiatric Hospitals and Prisons and Chairwoman of the Scottish Society of Art and Psychology.