The Neurologic Basis of Fever

Abstract

Fever is a complex, coordinated autonomic, neuroendocrine, and behavioral response that is adaptive and is used by nearly all vertebrates as part of the acute-phase reaction to immune challenge. Although the febrile response can be elicited by a wide variety of infectious organisms and may also occur during noninfectious inflammatory conditions, its manifestations are stereotyped and largely independent of the causative agent. Like other integrated responses, such as the regulation of energy metabolism, blood pressure and volume, and reproduction, fever depends on humoral cues from the body, is orchestrated largely by the hypothalamus, and involves the coordination of a wide . . .