To explore physiological stress response and adaptive tolerance of a stream-dwelling anuran, the giant spiny frog (Quasipaa spinosa), to extreme changes in environmental temperature, we investigated how repeated acute cold (4℃) exposure affects non-special immune responses, redox state, and heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) mRNA expression. Acute cold exposure inhibited peripheral blood phagocytic activity (after 4 h or 12 h, P<0.05), respiratory bursts of spleen macrophages (after 4 h or 12 h, P<0.05), and gastric lysozyme activity (after 12 h, P<0.05). All immune responses increased to initial and control levels (P>0.05) after the frogs were moved back to 22℃ for 12h. Both blood phagocytic activity and spleen respiratory bursts recovered to initial and control levels (P>0.05) after 7 days of cold exposure. Acute cold stress increased hepatic and renal lipid peroxidation product malondialdehyde (MDA) content, but the degree of increase in MDA in the kidney was obviously larger than that in the liver. Hepatic superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and glutathione (GSH) content showed acute and adaptive increases (P<0.05), while only SOD activity increased in the kidney, which suggested that anti-oxidative defense was stronger in the liver than in the kidney in this frog. The expression level of Hsp70 mRNA in liver was not acutely increased, while it was significantly inhibited (P< 0.05). In conclusion, some non-special immune functions and the hepatic oxidative defense system in Q. spinosa can adapt, to varying extents, to repeated acute cold exposure.