Pages 316-319 in R. Fortuine et al., eds. Circumpolar Health 96. Proceedings of the Tenth International Congress on Circumpolar Health, Anchorage, Alaska, 1996. Int J Circumpolar Health. 1998;57 Supp 1.
Department of Physiology, University of Tromso, Norway
Source
Pages 316-319 in R. Fortuine et al., eds. Circumpolar Health 96. Proceedings of the Tenth International Congress on Circumpolar Health, Anchorage, Alaska, 1996. Int J Circumpolar Health. 1998;57 Supp 1.
Pentobarbital-anesthetized dogs were instrumented for hemodynamic measurements and cooled by heat exchange tubes. Through a catheter in the coronary sinus, blood samples were obtained and plasma leukotrienes measured using a high-pressure liquid chromatography technique. Hemodynamic function was significantly reduced during cooling, and during subsequent rewarming hemodynamic function was only partly restored. Leukotriene C4 and B4 were significantly increased at a body core temperature of 31 degrees C and 25 degrees C during cooling but not during rewarming (28 degrees C) and after rewarming (37 degrees C). This indicates that during decreasing body temperature elevated leukotriene levels may increase vascular permeability, inflammation, and vasoactivity and counteract temperature-dependent decrease in these functions. Disturbed microcirculation may thus diminish cardiac recovery during rewarming.