The Effect of Injecting an Inert Oil Into the Cerebral Ventricular System Upon Fever Produced by Intravenous Leucocyte Pyrogen

Abstract

An injection of paraffin oil into the lateral cerebral ventricle of afebrile rabbits appears to fill the entire ventricular system. Such an injection does not affect body temperature nor does it alter the time elapsing between an intravenous injection of leucocyte pyrogen and the fever which follows. It does, however, greatly increase the height and duration of the fever. Oil injected into the cerebral ventricles of rabbits during an intravenous infusion of pyrogen in an amount previously shown to maintain a steady fever level causes the body temperature to commence to climb again and continue to climb considerably thereafter. We suggest that these experiments indicate that leucocyte pyrogen, reaching the hypothalamus via the blood stream, may be excreted through the ependyma of the third ventricle into the cerebrospinal fluid, or that substances released as a result of the presence of leucocyte pyrogen in brain tissue may be thus excreted.