Fig. 4.

Change from baseline in average tail skin temperature in OVX + E₂ rats after microinfusion of 90 pmol senktide or vehicle into MnPO at ambient temperatures of 21.5 C (n = 5–6 microinfusions/group) (A) or 29.0 C (n = 6–7 microinfusions/group) (B). At 21.5 C, both senktide and vehicle-microinfused rats exhibited an acute reduction in tail skin temperature, indicative of tail vasoconstriction secondary to the microinfusion procedure. Acute tail skin vasoconstriction was also observed in the vehicle-microinfused animals at the ambient temperature of 29.0 C (B). In contrast, within 30 min after microinfusion of senktide at 29.0 C, there was no significant change in tail skin temperature. These rats exhibited a delayed decrease in tail skin temperature (compared with vehicle controls) from 65 to 90 min after senktide microinfusion. The horizontal line represents the average baseline value of all groups. Five-pointed star, Significantly different from time 0 in senktide and vehicle-microinfused rats, ambient temperature of 21.5 C (A); +, significantly different from time 0 in vehicle-microinfused rats, ambient temperature of 29.0 C (B); *, significantly different, senktide compared with vehicle, ambient temperature of 29.0 C (B).