Induction of Hypothermia in Humans

Abstract

We experienced a rare case of a young female patient suffering from hypothermia in a cool environment. There were no overt abnormalities responsible for hypothermia in physical, psychological, neurological and hematological examinations. According to investigations of her thermoregulatory function, we speculated that the threshold core temperatures for thermogenesis of the patient shifted to extremely low levels, which then resulted in hypothermia in a cool environment. In addition, it appeared that there might have been unknown cryogenic substance(s) in the patient blood, since the intraperitoneal injection of the patient's serum into rats produced a pronounced fall in core temperature. In this paper, we discuss the possible existence of cryogenic substance(s) which can induce poikilothermia physiologically or pathophysiologically in humans. [Jpn J Physiol 54 Suppl:S57 (2004)]