Involvement of serotonergic pathways in postanaesthetic cold defence: Dolasetron prevents shivering

Matthias Bock, Barbara Sinner, Martin Göttlicher, Eckhart Simon, Eike Martin, Johann Motsch

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

17 Scopus citations

Abstract

Serotonin is regarded as an essential neurotransmitter in thermoregulation. We evaluated the influence of the serotonergic antagonist dolasetron on thermoregulation and postanaesthetic shivering in mildly hypothermic patients in a randomised placebo-controlled study. The incidence of shivering was 24% after dolasetron compared to 69% after placebo (p<0.01). During the first 80 min postoperatively, core temperature remained lower in the treatment group (p<0.05). After dolasetron, 20% of the patients experienced thermal discomfort compared to 54% after placebo (p<0.05). Serotonin antagonism seems to lower the human thermal set-range thereby reducing metabolic cold defence and discomfort associated with postoperative hypothermia.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)159-166
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of Thermal Biology
Volume27
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 2002
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Anaesthesia
  • Cold challenge
  • Dolasetron
  • Human
  • Neurotransmitter
  • Serotonin
  • Set-range
  • Shivering
  • Thermoregulation

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