Temperature variations in cells, tissues and organs may occur in a number of circumstances. We report here that reducing temperature of cells in culture to 25°C for 5 days followed by a rewarming to 37°C affects cell biology and induces a cellular stress response. Cell proliferation was almost arrested during mild hypothermia and not restored upon returning to 37°C. The expression of cold shock...

Chondrocytes in cold preserved cartilage are metabolically suppressed. The goal of this study was to address this metabolic suppression and seek ways to reverse it. Specifically, we examined the roles of rewarming protocols and nitric oxide (NO) in this metabolic suppression. Bovine and canine full-thickness articular cartilage explants were cultured under various temperature conditions, and NO...

OBJECTIVE We proposed that angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor therapy would alter systemic vascular resistance (SVR) during rewarming and increase the requirement for vasoactive drugs in the immediate post-bypass period. METHODS Sixty-five sequential adult patients undergoing cardiac surgical procedures requiring hypothermic (28 degrees C) cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) were recruite...

Background Hypothermia is proarrhythmic and as the use of therapeutic hypothermia (TH) increases, it is critically important to understand the electrophysiologic effects of hypothermia on cardiac myocytes and arrhythmia substrates. We tested the hypothesis that hypothermiaenhanced transmural dispersion of repolarization (DOR) is a mechanism of arrhythmogenesis in hypothermia. In addition, we in...

Objectives: In accidental hypothermia the underlying physiological mechanisms responsible for poor outcome during rewarming through 32°C remain obscure, although possible associations include changes in acid-base balance, divalent cations, and inflammatory markers. This study investigated the metabolic and inflammatory changes that occur during the rewarming of hypothermic patients. Methods: Ei...

Prostate cancer has been extensively studied, but cellular stress responses in healthy prostate tissue are rarely investigated. Hypothermia is known to cause alterations in mRNA and protein expressions and stability. The aim of this study was to use normal rat prostate as a model in order to find out consequences of cold exposure and rewarming on the expressions of genes which are either member...

It has been suggested that the increased incidence of ventricular arrhythmias recognized below 30 degrees C might be catecholamine mediated. Elevate catecholamine concentrations have been reported in experimentally induced hypothermia in animals. Plasma concentrations of epinephrine and norepinephrine were measured during profound hypothermia and total circulatory arrest in infants under one ye...

A 15-year prospective study was carried out of 44 patients with accidental hypothermia (mean age 60 years) admitted to an intensive therapy unit. The lowest core temperature recorded in each patient ranged from 20.0 to 34.3 degrees C. The precipitating factors were poisoning (by drugs, alcohol, or coal gas) in 25 cases and various illnesses in 19. Rewarming was achieved in 42 patients by applyi...

Hypothermia and acidosis are secondary causes of trauma-related coagulopathy. Here we report the case of a 72-year-old patient with severe trauma who suffered near-severe hypothermia despite the initiation of standard warming measures and was successfully managed with active intravascular rewarming. The patient was involved in a road traffic accident and was transported to a hospital. He was di...

We measured body temperatures (T(b)) in 14 free-ranging echidnas (Tachyglossus aculeatus) using implanted data-loggers. An average of 1020+/-744 days of T(b) data was recorded from each animal. The average maximum T(b) was 35.3+/-0.7 degrees C (n=14), and the lowest T(b) was 4.7 degrees C. Detailed analysis of rewarming events from four echidnas showed rewarming time to be dependent on initial ...