Warming from hibernation to cenothermia involves intense metabolic activity and large fluxes in regional blood flow and volume. During this transition, levels of the antioxidants, ascorbate (AA), urate and glutathione (GSH) in brain tissue, extracellular fluid (ECF) and plasma change substantially. Striatal ECF was sampled and manipulated using very slow perfusion microdialysis to examine the mechanisms that influence the changing profile of striatal ECF AA, urate and GSH levels during arousal from hibernation to cenothermia in Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus). Omission of glucose from the perfusate had no effect upon the respective decrease, increase and transient increase in striatal ECF levels of AA, GSH and urate observed during arousal from hibernation to cenothermia. In contrast, inhibition of xanthine dehydrogenase/oxidase (XOR) activity by reverse dialysis with oxypurinol, itself a free radical scavenger, decreased ECF urate and preserved ECF AA levels. This suggests that some ECF AA is oxidized by free radical products of XOR flux and/or by other free radical producing processes activated during the transition from hibernation to cenothermia. Local supplementation of ECF AA, GSH and cystiene had no effect upon the profile of transient increase of ECF urate observed during arousal from hibernation. The production of free radicals by XOR and the disappearance of AA from the ECF continues for at least 2 h immediately after the hamster has attained cenothermia. The hamster, immediately after arousal from hibernation, can be utilized as a natural model to study free radical production and effective scavenging at cenothermia.
