STUDIES ON THE PATHOGENESIS OF FEVER

Abstract

Rabbits made granulocytopenic with nitrogen mustard were shown to generate serum endogenous pyrogen when given a fever-producing dose of bacterial endotoxin. This finding is in accord with the hypothesis that endogenous pyrogen plays a central role in the pathogenesis of endotoxin fever. The fact that leukopenic animals produce less serum-endogenous pyrogen than normal animals given the same dose of endotoxin has also been confirmed and suggests that polymorphonuclear leucocytes constitute a major source of the endogenous pyrogen which is demonstrable in the circulation during endotoxin fever.