Altered hypothalamic inflammatory gene expression correlates with heat stroke severity in a conscious rodent model

• Hypothalamic cytokine and chemokine gene changes were assessed in heat stroked rats.
• The majority of changes were observed with chemokines at heat stroke onset.
• Chemokine changes at 24 h recovery occurred in severe heat stroked rats only.
• Gene expression changes occurred in the absence of histological damage.
• Inflammation, but not injury, is the main hypothalamic response to heat stroke.

It has been suggested that heat-induced hypothalamic damage mediates core temperature (Tc) disturbances during heat stroke (HS) recovery; this is significant as hypothermia and/or fever have been linked to severity and overall pathological insult. However, to date there has been a lack of histological evidence in support of these claims. We hypothesized that local hypothalamic cytokines and/or chemokines, known regulators of Tc, are mediating the elevation in Tc during HS recovery even in the absence of histological damage. In experiment 1, the hypothalamus of Fischer 344 rats was examined for 84 cytokine/chemokine genes (real-time PCR) at multiple time points (Tc,Max, 1, 3, and 10 days) during mild HS recovery. In experiment 2, the hypothalamus of three different HS severities (MILD, moderate [MOD], and severe [SEV]) in rats were examined for the same genes as experiment 1 as well as six oxidative damage markers, at a single intermediate time point (1 day). Systemic cytokines were also analyzed in experiment 2 across the three severities. There were significant alterations in 25 cytokines/chemokines expression at Tc,Max, but little or no changes in expression at longer time points in experiment 1. In experiment 2 there were significant changes in gene expression in SEV rats only, with MILD and MOD rats showing baseline expression at 1 day, despite an absence of systemic cytokine expression in any severity. There was also no change in any oxidative marker of damage at 1 day, regardless of severity. In conclusion, we show only limited changes during long term recovery from HS, but demonstrate differences in hypothalamic gene expression patterns that may be driving HS pathology and morbidity. These findings contribute to our overall understanding of HS pathology in the CNS, as well as providing avenues for future pharmacological intervention.