The role of sodium and calcium ions in the hypothalamus in the control of body temperature of the unanaesthetized cat.

1. Isolated regions of the anterior, posterior and other areas of the hypothalamus of the unanaesthetized cat were perfused by means of push-pull cannulae lowered through permanently implanted guide tubes. Each site was perfused for a 30 min interval at a rate of 50 mul./min. Concentrations of sodium, calcium, potassium and magnesium ions in the perfusate were altered selectively.2. Sodium ions in a concentration which varied from 13.6 to 68.0 mM in excess of the level in extracellular fluid caused a steep rise in the temperature of the cat when the solution was perfused at sites located within the posterior hypothalamic area. Shivering, vasoconstriction, and piloerection accompanied the increase in temperature. When the chloride was replaced in the perfusate by the toluene-p-sulphonate salt of sodium, the hyperthermia was equally intense. Solutions containing excess sodium ions perfused within the anterior and other hypothalamic areas produced either a slight fall or rise in temperature as well as other physiological changes.3. Calcium ions in a concentration which varied from 2.6 to 10.4 mM in excess of the physiological level perfused at the same sites within the posterior region of the hypothalamus produced a sharp fall in body temperature, which was accompanied by vasodilatation and a decrease in the activity of the cat. When solutions containing excess calcium were perfused in the anterior and other hypothalamic areas, no consistent change in temperature occurred.4. Potassium or magnesium ions in concentrations which varied from two to ten times the level in extracellular fluid had virtually no effect on the temperature of the cat when they were perfused in the anterior, posterior or other areas of the hypothalamus.5. We conclude that the constancy in the ratio between sodium and calcium ions in the posterior hypothalamus may be the inherent mechanism by which the set-point for body temperature is determined.