The anticholinesterase hypothermia in the rat: its practical application in the study of the central effectiveness of oximes.

Cholinesterase inhibitors that can pass the blood-brain barrier produce hypothermia when injected intravenously in just sublethal doses. From a comparison of the hypothermia-reducing effects of five cholinesterase-reactivating oximes when injected intraperitoneally or subarachnoidally into rats pretreated with DFP or soman it was possible to distinguish central and peripheral actions of the oximes. The comparative efficacy of the five oximes and the effectiveness of cholinesterase inhibitors in producing hypothermia in other animal species, including man, are discussed.