Involvement of brainstem noradrenergic system in cutaneous heat loss during exercise

•Locus Coeruleus could be involved in cutaneous heat loss during exercise.•The control of cutaneous heat loss seems also to involve the A1 nucleus.•Higher activity of Locus Coeruleus is related with lower values of heat storage rate. The involvement of brainstem noradrenergic system in thermoregulation during exercise was evaluated by assessing the neuronal activation of A1, A2, locus coeruleus (LC) during exercise. Male Wistar rats weighing 280−330 g were used in the present study. Ninety minutes after exercise bout until fatigue, animals were anaesthesiated and brain removed and processed immunohistochemically for Fos protein and tyrosine hydroxylase in A1, A2 and LC and for Fos in POA subregions. Core and tail temperature were recorded during all running period by telemetry system. Heat storage rate (HSR, cal.min−1), maximum tail vasoconstriction (°C) and vasodilatation threshold (°C) were calculated and correlated with Fos expression in all nuclei studied. Fos expression in LC correlated inversely with maximum tail skin vasoconstriction (r = −0.787, p < 0.03) and HSR (r = −0.834, p < 0.02) and positively to time to fatigue (r = 0.862, p < 0.01). A1 nucleus showed an inverse correlation with tail skin vasodilatation threshold (r = −0.861, p < 0.01). Fos expression in LC correlated inversely with Fos expression in the median (MnPO, r = −0.909, p < 0.01) and medial preoptic nucleus (MPOM, r = −0.942, p < 0.05). Our results bring further evidences that noradrenergic neurons from LC and A1 nuclei are involved in cutaneous heat loss mechanisms during exercise. LC nucleus probably modulates the sympathetic tonus of tail artery and integrates the central network LC / POA that could represent an important circuitry of temperature regulation during exercise. Also, noradrenergic neurons from A1 nucleus could be involved in cutaneous heat loss during exercise by modulating of vasodilatation threshold.