Apomorphine-induced hypothermia affected by acute treatment with apomorphine, haloperidol, or ethanol.

Apomorphine-induced hypothermia was studied in rats pretreated with a dose of apomorphine (mg/kg, IP), haloperidol (0.25 mg/kg, IP), ethanol (3 g/kg, PO), or apomorphine + ethanol. Pretreatment with apomorphine attenuated the hypothermic response, pretreatment with either haloperidol or ethanol potentiated it, and pretreatment with apomorphine together with ethanol did not alter it. These data show that an acute treatment with a dopaminergic drug can alter the responsiveness of the dopaminergic thermoregulatory system, and also that ethanol has an inhibitory effect on the dopamine mechanism.