Intracranial Pressures and Fever in the Rat, Rabbit and Cat

Abstract

Fever, characterized by a core body temperature rising above the usual range of normal is often associated with disease. The most frequent cause of fever is infection from bacteria (and their toxins) and viruses. Experimentally, Prostaglandin E₁ (PGE₁) when delivered into specific brain loci and bacterial endotoxin when administered intravenously both elicit fever in the rat, rabbit, and cat. The resulting febrile response gives rise to a characteristic sequence of physiological changes which occur in four phases: prodrome, chill, flush, and defervesence.

This work is supported by the Medical Research Council of Canada. All animal experiments were conducted in accordance with the American Physiological Societies “Guiding Principles for Research Involving Animals”