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To elucidate the mechanisms of fever response by bacterial pyrogen (lipopolysaccharide, LPS), we investigated both pyrogenicity and Limulus amoebocyte lysate (LAL) gelation activity of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) withdrawn from febrile rabbits induced by i.v. injection of LPS. One ml of CSF was withdrawn from donor animals 2 hr after i.v. injection of E. coli LPS at graded doses of O, 1, 10 and 50 micrograms/kg, and its pyrogenicity was checked by administration into cisterna magna of recipient animals. Pyrogenicity was revealed only in the CSF withdrawn from the group injected with 50 micrograms/kg of LPS. Differences of both protein content and concentrations of ions (Na, K and Ca) were not obtained among the CSF withdrawn from control and LPS-injected groups. All of the above CSF had no LAL gelation activity, but the activity could be detected in the CSF withdrawn from animals injected with a higher dose of LPS (500 micrograms/kg, i.v.). LAL gelation activity of LPS dissolved in normal CSF was 2 orders less potent in comparison with that of LPS dissolved in saline, which suggested the presence of inhibitor(s) in CSF for LAL assay. Pyrogenicity was not revealed in the CSF withdrawn from hyperthermic rabbits induced by administration of reserpine after pretreatment with a monoamine oxidase inhibitor. These findings suggest that the central action of LPS is involved in pyrogen fever and that monoamines are not closely related to pyrogen fever.

It has been well documented that fever could be mediated with endogenous pyrogen released from reticuloendothelial system(RES) by administration of bacterial endotoxin(LPS) intravenously to rabbits. On the contrary, reserpine which has various pharmacological activities by depleting catecholamines decreases the normal body temperature as well as endotoxin induced fever. In this paper, we focussed our attention on the effect of reserpine on the production of endogenous pyrogen with relation to the antipyretic effect in endotoxin fever and obtained the following results: Endogenous pyrogen could be detected by intravenous administration of LPS(0.5 micrograms/kg) during the fever. However, endogenous pyrogen was undetectable with intracisternal administration of LPS(0.01 microgram/body) which provoked long-lasting fever. Reserpine (1 mg/kg, i.v.) decreased both body temperature induced by intracisternal administration of LPS(0.01 microgram/body) or intravenous administration of LPS(0.5 microgram/kg), however the degree was more extensive in cases of LPS-induced fever. Pretreatment of rabbits with reserpine (1 mg/kg, i.v.) suppressed the fever induced by an intravenous administration of LPS(0.5 microgram/kg), but did not suppress the release of endogenous pyrogen. These data suggest that endogenous pyrogen may not be an important factor in the pathogenesis of endotoxin fever.

The antipyretic effects of aminopyrine and sodium acetylsalicylate on endotoxin-induced fever in rabbits were studied relative to the route and dose of administration. Intravenous administration of aminopyrine produced a marked antipyretic effect, intracisternal administration produced a lesser effect and i.v. was the effective route. Similar results were obtained in the nonfebrile rabbits. On the contrary, the intracisternal administration of sodium acetylsalicylate reduced the body temperature to the same degree both in febrile and nonfebrile rabbits, but sodium acetylsalicylate given i.v. to nonfebrile rabbits did not reduce the body temperature. 4-aminoantipyrine and N-acetyl-4-aminoantipyrine, the major metabolites of aminopyrine had a lesser effect in the febrile rabbits. Antipyretic effects of sodium salicylate, the metabolite of sodium acetylsalicylate were similar to the effects of sodium acetylsalicylate. These data suggest that the antipyretic effects of aminopyrine may not be involved in the CNS, while the antipyretic effects of salicylate may be due to a direct action on the CNS.

The pyrogenicity of E. coli endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide, LPS) was measured at both 25 degrees C and neutral temperatures (Tn) in day -1 to adult rabbits. Intravenous injection of endotoxin (0.5 micrograms/kg) produced febrile response at Tn in day -1 rabbits, but not at 25 degrees C. A similar response was observed when endotoxin was injected s.c. (1.0 micrograms/kg) or intracisternally (0.0001 micrograms/kg). The mean magnitude of the rise of rectal temperature increased with the advance of age. Propranolol abolished the endotoxin-fever in day 3 rabbits. The inhibitory effect of propranolol was incomplete in day 14 rabbits and was not seen in day 28 rabbits. The inhibitory effect of phentolamine was not observed in day 3 and day 28 rabbits, but the blocker reduced the febrile response in day 14 rabbits. No shivering activity was evident in day 3 rabbits after injection of endotoxin. In the day 7 and 14 rabbits, shivering was less significant and of shorter duration than in the case of day 28 rabbits. The endotoxin caused no significant decrease in ear skin temperature in day 3 rabbits. A decrease in ear skin temperature was observed in rabbits older than 14 days. Thus, pyrogenic sensitivity is apparent even in day -1 rabbits. The mechanism of the heat production underlying endotoxin-fever gradually shifted from the nonshivering thermogenesis mediated by catecholamines to shivering thermogenesis during the first month of life.

The development of pyrogenic tolerance was studied in rabbits treated with varying doses of E. coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The following results were obtained. 1) Development of pyrogenic tolerance seemed to proceed in two steps: that is, the first in which tolerance appeared rapidly and the second in which tolerance proceeded more gradually or steadily in response to repeated injections of a constant dose. 2) Tolerance induced by the latter method was not absolute; the rabbits were still sensitive to increased doses of LPS. 3) Rabbits immunized with E. coli vaccine lost their pyrogenic sensitivity of parent LPS to some extent. 4) Following intracisternal injection of LPS into tolerant rabbit, pyrogenic response was not decreased but rather enhanced in comparison with control. 5) The contents of nor-epinephrine and serotonin in the brain did not differ between normal and tolerant rabbits. 6) The mechanisms of endotoxin tolerance remain to be further studied.

The present investigation was an attempt to clarify the mechanism of combined effect of acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) and aminopyrine (AMI) in febrile rabbits as induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS). In addition, the possible synergic effect of both agents was studied in relation to the plasma concentration. In febrile rabbits, the plasma concentration of ASA (500 mg/kg, p.o.) was a higher level than in the control, but the concentration of salicylic acid (SA), the metabolite of ASA, was similar to that in the control. The plasma concentration of AMI (100 mg/kg, p.o.) in febrile rabbits was lower than in the control. A dose-dependent antipyretic effect was seen in the successive doses from 125 to 500 mg/kg of ASA, and a similar tendency was also observed in AMI from 25 to 100 mg/kg. To observe the synergic effect of ASA and AMI, we prepared the following three combinations: I (ASA/AMI; 125 plus 75 mg/kg), II (ASA/AMI; 250 plus 50 mg/kg) and III (ASA/AMI; 375 plus 25 mg/kg). Plasma concentrations of ASA, SA and AMI were measured after oral administration of the preparations and these concentrations were lower than in the separate administration of ASA ans AMI. The antipyretic effect of the three preparations was weaker than the expected value, respectively.

Thirteen 6-O-acyl-N-acetylmuramyl-L-alanyl-D-isoglutamines (6-O-acyl-MDPs), including four inactive D-isoasparagine and L-isoglutamine analogs, were tested for their pyrogenicity and immunopotentiating activity to stimulate primary humoral and cellular immune responses in guinea pigs to a model protein antigen, ovalbumin, when administered in various vehicles. Among them, derivatives whose muramic acid residue was substituted by alpha-branched (and beta-hydroxylated) higher fatty acids at the carbon-6 position, especially 6-O-(2-tetradecylhexadecanoyl)-MDP (B3O-MDP) and, to a lesser extent, 6-O-(3-hydroxy-2-docosylhexacosanoyl)-MDP (BH48-MDP) and its L-serine analog [BH48-MDP(L-Ser)], were found to exert strong adjuvant activity in both the induction of delayed-type hypersensitivity and the stimulation of circulating precipitating antibody levels when combined with nonirritating vehicles (liposomes, squalene-in-water emulsion, and phosphate-buffered saline). These vehicles did not efficiently support the adjuvant activity of MDP, the parent molecule of the above lipophilic derivatives. Pyrogenicity tests showed that introduction of alpha-branched higher fatty acid groups but not of straight, long-chain fatty acids at the 6-position of the muramic acid residue resulted in marked decrease of the pyrogenicity inherent to MDP via intravenous administration.