SEX-DIFFERENCES IN BLOOD-FLOW DISTRIBUTION OF NORMOTHERMIC AND HEAT-STRESSED RABBITS

Sex differences in blood flow (BF) distribution of male and female mature laboratory rabbits were determined in normothermic and heat-stressed states. Animals were anesthetized with alpha-chloralose, and BF distribution was determined by radioactive microspheres in the thermoneutral state and then again during hyperthermia after 2 h of heat exposure. Cardiac output did not change in either sex during heat stress. BF to the toe and ear skin and to nasal turbinates was lower in females than in males, whereas that to the diaphragm, sternum, intercostal muscles, spleen, and skeletal muscles was higher in females. A thermal state-by-sex interaction was detected in several organs, indicating that during heat stress in males, BF is significantly higher than in the controls, whereas in females a decline, no change, or only a slight increase was recorded. Males did not exhibit any decrease in inner organ BF during heat stress, whereas females did. Results show sex differences in BF distributions under normothermia and hyperthermia, suggesting that males and females differ in their BF regulation in both peripheral organs, which are active in heat dissipation, and inner body organs.