Hibernation induction trigger
Encyclopedia
Hibernation induction trigger (hibernation inducement trigger or HIT) is a substance found in the blood
Blood
Blood is a specialized bodily fluid in animals that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells....

 of hibernating
Hibernation
Hibernation is a state of inactivity and metabolic depression in animals, characterized by lower body temperature, slower breathing, and lower metabolic rate. Hibernating animals conserve food, especially during winter when food supplies are limited, tapping energy reserves, body fat, at a slow rate...

 animals. If blood is taken from a hibernating squirrel
Squirrel
Squirrels belong to a large family of small or medium-sized rodents called the Sciuridae. The family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels, chipmunks, marmots , flying squirrels, and prairie dogs. Squirrels are indigenous to the Americas, Eurasia, and Africa and have been introduced to Australia...

 in the winter and injected into another squirrel in the spring, the normally active squirrel will be more prone to hibernation when placed in cold dark conditions. HIT can also be found in the blood of hibernating bears.

Researchers were able to prolong the life of an isolated pig's heart with HIT. This may have potentially important implications for organ transplant
Organ transplant
Organ transplantation is the moving of an organ from one body to another or from a donor site on the patient's own body, for the purpose of replacing the recipient's damaged or absent organ. The emerging field of regenerative medicine is allowing scientists and engineers to create organs to be...

, as it could allow organs to survive for up to 18 or more hours, outside the human body. This would be a great improvement from the current 6 hours.

HIT is a mixture derived from serum, including at least one opioid
Opioid
An opioid is a psychoactive chemical that works by binding to opioid receptors, which are found principally in the central and peripheral nervous system and the gastrointestinal tract...

-like substance. DADLE is an opioid that in some experiments has been shown to have similar functional properties.

External links and sources

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