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Attenuation of metabolic heat production and cold‐escape/warm‐seeking behaviour during a cold exposure following systemic salt loading in rats

The reduction of body core temperature (Tcore) after salt loading has been reported. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that, during a cold exposure in rats, (1) salt loading would decrease metabolic rate (MR), reducing Tcore, but (2) Tcore would be maintained when cold‐escape/warm‐seeking behaviour is available. In the first experiment (n= 7), MR and Tcore were measured by indirect calorimetry and telemetry, respectively, during 26, 20 and 10 °C exposure for 1 h each, in that order. In the second experiment (n= 7), each rat was placed in an operant system during the same exposure protocol as in the first experiment, where it could trigger a 40 °C air reward for 30 s at 20 and 10 °C by moving into specific areas (operant behaviour). In each experiment, rats repeated the same protocol twice with a subcutaneous injection (10 ml kg−1) of either isotonic saline (154 mm) or hypertonic saline (2500 mm). In the first experiment, MR in the isotonic‐saline trial increased (P < 0.05) at 20 and 10 °C compared with that at 26 °C by 21 ± 5 and 48 ± 6 %, respectively (means ±s.e.m.), with Tcore unchanged. However, values for MR and Tcore in the hypertonic‐saline trial were lower (P < 0.05) than those in the isotonic‐saline trial in any ambient temperature. In the second experiment, Tcore was also lower (P < 0.05) in the hypertonic‐saline trial than in the isotonic‐saline trial. The counts of the operant behaviour in the hypertonic‐saline trial remained unchanged in each exposure period, but those in the isotonic‐saline trial increased (P < 0.05) at 10 °C. These results may suggest that salt loading attenuates both metabolic and behavioural thermoregulatory responses to the cold.