Methamphetamine-Induced Hyperthermia in Rats

( + )-Methamphetamine hydrochloride (METH, 10 mg/kg free base) (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO) or saline (1 mL/kg) was administered to the rats every 2 h in four successive intraperitoneal (i.p.) injections, as previous studies^{124 (link)–126 (link)}. To measure hyperthermia, the core body temperatures of the rats were measured with a rectal probe digital thermometer (Thermalert TH-8; Physitemp Instruments, Clifton, NJ) before the beginning of the treatment (baseline temperatures) and at 1 h after each METH or saline injection. All METH-treated rats in this study reached 39 °C indicating neurotoxicity (Supplementary Fig. 6a). Rats were sacrificed by decapitation at 24 h after the last injection of the drug or saline.