Journal of Applied Physiology, Vol 54, Issue 4 880-886, Copyright © 1983 by American Physiological Society
Temperature sensitivity of skeletal muscle in the conscious goat
C. Jessen, G. Feistkorn and A. Nagel
A method has been developed to test the hypothesis that the deep tissues of
the legs, e.g., skeletal muscle and/or periosteum, contain thermosensitive
elements feeding signals into the temperature-regulating system. Stainless
steel thermodes of 10 to 12-mm diameter and 100 to 150-mm length were
chronically implanted into the marrow spaces of both humeri and femora, all
of which have wide cavities and thin walls. Perfusing the thermodes with
water of 0 degree C altered the temperature of the deep muscle layers by
several degrees. The animals were further equipped with intravascular heat
exchangers, which served to keep general body temperature constant during
periods of leg cooling. Eighty experiments were performed in a hot and dry
environment. During the middle period of each experiment the legs were
cooled by perfusing the thermodes with water of 0 degree C. This caused
respiratory evaporative heat loss to decrease by 0.15-0.20 W/kg. The small
but significant response occurred at constant general body temperature and
is therefore indicative of a local effect of the cooling on deep
thermosensitive elements in the legs themselves and a neural afferent
transmission of temperature signals into the temperature-regulating system.
