Abstracts

Abstract

A fall in plasma iron is known to be associated with a variety of stresses which induce the production of endogenous pyrogen. Cyclo-oxygenase products of arachidonic acid metabolism are not directly involved (1). The present study investigated the possible role of lipoxygenase products of arachidonic acid metabolism by comparing the effects of antipyretic doses of indomethacin, a cyclo-oxygenase inhibitor, and quinacrine, a phospholipase A2 inhibitor, on the hypoferraemic response to typhoid vaccine (TAB). Male Wistar rats, age 28-30 days, were made febrile by intravenous injection of 0.2 ml of a 1:10 dilution of TAB. The resulting fever was of short duration (2–4 hrs) with a mean maximum elevation of 0.7°C over resting temperature. Animals were pretreated with indomethacin (4 mg/kg i.p.) or quinacrine (100 mg/kg i.p.). Blood was collected following decapitation at 8 hours. Plasma iron was estimated by a ferrozine method (2).