Feeling hot, hot, hot: New study suggests ways to control fever-induce...(with the PKG molecule the researchers sh...)

Date:8/21/2007

with the PKG molecule, the researchers showed it is possible to induce an extremely rapid protection of neural function during heat stress. Queen's biologists Gary Armstrong and Mel Robertson exposed locusts to increasing heat while monitoring the neural circuit that controls breathing. At approximately 30˚C (about three minutes before expected neural failure), the researchers injected the locusts with a PKG inhibitor. Compared to locusts who received a placebo injection, the treated locusts showed a rapid and significant protection of their neural circuitry.

During heat trauma to the brain, there exists a window of opportunity between the time of occurrence of neural dysfunction and eventual brain damage or death, says Dawson-Scully. Manipulation of the PKG pathway during this period should increase an individuals chance of survival.

The research was supported by the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

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Contact: Nicolle Wahl nicolle.wahl@utoronto.ca 905-569-4656 Public Library of Science Source:Eurekalert

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