though hypothermia is one of the most powerful modulators that can reduce ischemic injury, the effects of hypothermia on the function of the cardiac autonomic nerves in vivo are not well understood. We examined the effects of hypothermia on the myocardial interstitial norepinephrine (NE) and ACh releases in response to acute myocardial ischemia and to efferent sympathetic or vagal nerve stimulation in anesthetized cats. We induced acute myocardial ischemia by coronary artery occlusion. Compared with normothermia (n ϭ 8), hypothermia at 33°C (n ϭ 6) suppressed the ischemia-induced NE release [63 nM (SD 39) vs. 18 nM (SD 25), P Ͻ 0.01] and ACh release [11.6 nM (SD 7.6) vs. 2.4 nM (SD 1.3), P Ͻ 0.01] in the ischemic region. Under hypothermia, the coronary occlusion increased the ACh level from 0.67 nM (SD 0.44) to 6.0 nM (SD 6.0) (P Ͻ 0.05) and decreased the NE level from 0.63 nM (SD 0.19) to 0.40 nM (SD 0.25) (P Ͻ 0.05) in the nonischemic region. Hypothermia attenuated the nerve stimulation-induced NE release from 1.05 nM (SD 0.85) to 0.73 nM (SD 0.73) (P Ͻ 0.05, n ϭ 6) and ACh release from 10.2 nM (SD 5.1) to 7.1 nM (SD 3.4) (P Ͻ 0.05, n ϭ 5). In conclusion, hypothermia attenuated the ischemia-induced NE and ACh releases in the ischemic region. Moreover, hypothermia also attenuated the nerve stimulationinduced NE and ACh releases. The Bezold-Jarisch reflex evoked by the left anterior descending coronary artery occlusion, however, did not appear to be affected under hypothermia. vagal nerve; sympathetic nerve; cardiac microdialysis; cats HYPOTHERMIA IS ONE OF THE most powerful modulators that can reduce ischemic injury in the central nervous system, heart, and other organs. The general consensus is that hypothermia induces a hypometabolic state in tissues and balances energy supply and demand (25). With respect to the myocardial ischemia, the size of a myocardial infarction correlates with temperature (6), and mild hypothermia can protect the myocardium against acute ischemic injury (9). The effects of hypothermia on the function of the cardiac autonomic nerves in terms of neurotransmitter releases, however, are not fully understood. Because autonomic neurotransmitters such as norepinephrine (NE) and ACh directly impinge on the myocardium, they would be implicated in the cardioprotection by hypothermia.In previous studies from our laboratory, Kitagawa et al. (16) demonstrated that hypothermia attenuated the nonexocytotic NE release induced pharmacologically by ouabain, tyramine, or cyanide. Kitagawa et al. (15) also demonstrated that hypothermia attenuated the exocytotic NE release in response to vena cava occlusion or to local administration of high K ϩ . The effects of hypothermia on the ischemia-induced myocardial interstitial NE release, however, were not examined in those studies. In addition, the effects of hypothermia on the ischemia-induced myocardial interstitial ACh release have never been examined. Because both sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves control the heart, simultaneous monitoring of the m...