Table 1.

Basal and hyperthermic plateau temperatures and heating rates of rats undergoing heat acclimation (AC2d, AC), deacclimation of 1 and 2 mo [DeAC (1), DeAC(2)], and reacclimated for 2 days [ReAC(1), ReAC(2)]

	C	AC2d	AC	DeAC(1)	ReAC(1)	DeAC(2)	ReAC(2)
Basal Tc	37.68±0.08	37.88±0.03	37.96±0.05	37.64±0.09	38.04±0.02	37.92±0.03	38.06±0.04
Tc Plateau	40.01±0.009	39.92±0.017	40.78±0.035†	40.19±0.09	40.68±0.10†	40.06±0.03	40.51±0.07†
Heating Rate, °C/min	0.037±0.001	0.030±0.001	0.045±0.001*	0.032±0.001	0.041±0.003*	0.034±0.0006	0.04±0.001*

Values are means ± SE and were derived from representative groups of 6–12 animals in each treatment group. Control (C) and deacclimated (DeAC) animals were maintained at 24 ± 1°C. Heat-acclimated (AC) and reacclimated (ReAC) rats were maintained at 34°C and 35% relative humidity. Tc, basal colonic temperature before heat stress; Tc plateau, average Tc at time points 80, 100, and 120 min exposure to heat stress at 41°C. For significance test, 2-way ANOVA followed by Dunnett was conducted. Significant difference from the C group:

^*P < 0.02;

^†P < 0.001.