Relationship of the hypoxic heart rate response to ambient temperature.

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The heart rate responses to hypoxia in 3 species of small rodents, rat, ground squirrel, and hamster, were tested at different ambient temperatures. In a warm environment (35 C) cardiac acceleration always occurred when the chamber containing the animal was ventilated with 10 or 5% oxygen, and at an ambient temperature of 10 C cardiac slowing was the consistent event. In hypoxia at 23 C the rat showed either slight slowing or acceleration. The reciprocal oxygen pulse, beats per milliliter O2 consumed, was always greater with hypoxia. In the cold where shivering thermogenesis was blocked by hypoxia, a sharp decrease in metabolism may explain the cardiac slowing. At higher temperatures, where decreased metabolism did not occur during hypoxia, acceleration prevailed.

This publication has 4 references indexed in Scilit: