Effect on body temperature in dogs of perfusion of cerebral ventricles with artificiaL CSF deficient in calcium or containing excess of sodium or calcium.

In anaesthetized dogs at room temperatures of 28-33 degrees C, the cerebral ventricles were perfused with artificial CSF from the left lateral ventricular to the aqueductal cannulae. The animals' temperatures were recorded from the rectum. Addition of Ca(++) in excess to the artificial CSF perfusing the ventricles produced hyperthermia and addition of Na+ in excess produced hypothermia. Perfusion with medium deficient in Ca(++) and containing sodium edetate produced hypothermia. The temperature effects of Na(+) or Ca(++) in excess were mutually antagonistic.