Skip to main content
PMC home page
The Journal of Physiology logoLink to The Journal of Physiology
. 1988 Mar;397:259–268. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1988.sp016999

Ventromedial hypothalamus is highly sensitive to prostaglandin E2 for producing fever in rabbits.

A Morimoto 1, N Murakami 1, T Nakamori 1, T Watanabe 1
PMCID: PMC1192123  PMID: 3166062

Abstract

1. The febrile responses induced by intraventricular or intrapreoptic (bilateral) injections of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) were investigated in the same group of rabbits. Both injections produced dose-dependent fever over a range of 100-2000 ng. However the magnitude of febrile responses induced by ventricular injections was significantly greater than those by intrapreoptic injections. This indicates that there exist regions more sensitive to PGE2 than the preoptic region for producing fever. 2. To explore the regions sensitive to PGE2, the effects of microinjection (1 microliter) of PGE2 (50 and 100 ng) on the rectal temperature were extensively examined in the forty regions of the brain stem. The results showed that the preoptic and anterior hypothalamic region, and the ventromedial hypothalamic region are highly sensitive to PGE2 for producing fever. 3. The febrile responses to PGE2 (50-1000 ng) microinjected into the preoptic region were compared with those induced by injection in the ventromedial hypothalamic region. Fever induced by injection in the ventromedial hypothalamic region was significantly greater than that by injection into the preoptic region. 4. Fever induced by PGE2 injected into the ventromedial hypothalamic region was due to increased heat production in the cold environment (10 degrees C), while in 24 degrees C environment heat losses were reduced without significant changes in heat production. 5. The present results show that the ventromedial hypothalamic region is the most sensitive region to PGE2 for producing fever.

Full text

PDF
259

Images in this article

263Fig. 4
on p.263

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. ATKINS E. Pathogenesis of fever. Physiol Rev. 1960 Jul;40:580–646. doi: 10.1152/physrev.1960.40.3.580. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bernheim H. A., Gilbert T. M., Stitt J. T. Prostaglandin E levels in third ventricular cerebrospinal fluid of rabbits during fever and changes in body temperature. J Physiol. 1980 Apr;301:69–78. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1980.sp013189. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Blatteis C. M., Banet M. Autonomic thermoregulation after separation of the preoptic area from the hypothalamus in rats. Pflugers Arch. 1986 May;406(5):480–484. doi: 10.1007/BF00583370. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Dascombe M. J., Milton A. S. Study on the possible entry of bacterial endotoxin and prostaglandin E2 into the central nervous system from the blood. Br J Pharmacol. 1979 Aug;66(4):565–572. doi: 10.1111/j.1476-5381.1979.tb13695.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Dinarello C. A., Bernheim H. A. Ability of human leukocytic pyrogen to stimulate brain prostaglandin synthesis in vitro. J Neurochem. 1981 Sep;37(3):702–708. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-4159.1982.tb12544.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Feldberg W., Gupta K. P. Pyrogen fever and prostaglandin-like activity in cerebrospinal fluid. J Physiol. 1973 Jan;228(1):41–53. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1973.sp010071. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Lipton J. M., Trzcinka G. P. Persistence of febrile response to pyrogens after PO/AH lesions in squirrel monkeys. Am J Physiol. 1976 Dec;231(6):1638–1648. doi: 10.1152/ajplegacy.1976.231.6.1638. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Milton A. S., Wendlandt S. Effects on body temperature of prostaglandins of the A, E and F series on injection into the third ventricle of unanaesthetized cats and rabbits. J Physiol. 1971 Oct;218(2):325–336. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1971.sp009620. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Morimoto A., Murakami N., Nakamori T., Watanabe T. Evidence for separate mechanisms of induction of biphasic fever inside and outside the blood-brain barrier in rabbits. J Physiol. 1987 Feb;383:629–637. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1987.sp016433. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Morimoto A., Murakami N., Ono T., Watanabe T., Sakata Y. Stimulation of ventromedial hypothalamus induces cold defense responses in conscious rabbits. Am J Physiol. 1986 Apr;250(4 Pt 2):R560–R566. doi: 10.1152/ajpregu.1986.250.4.R560. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Perkins M. N., Rothwell N. J., Stock M. J., Stone T. W. Activation of brown adipose tissue thermogenesis by the ventromedial hypothalamus. Nature. 1981 Jan 29;289(5796):401–402. doi: 10.1038/289401a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. SAWYER C. H., EVERETT J. W., GREEN J. D. The rabbit diencephalon in stereotaxic coordinates. J Comp Neurol. 1954 Dec;101(3):801–824. doi: 10.1002/cne.901010307. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Skarnes R. C., Brown S. K., Hull S. S., McCracken J. A. Role of prostaglandin E in the biphasic fever response to endotoxin. J Exp Med. 1981 Oct 1;154(4):1212–1224. doi: 10.1084/jem.154.4.1212. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Stitt J. T., Bernheim H. A. Differences in endogenous pyrogen fevers induced by iv and icv routes in rabbits. J Appl Physiol (1985) 1985 Aug;59(2):342–347. doi: 10.1152/jappl.1985.59.2.342. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Stitt J. T. Evidence for the involvement of the organum vasculosum laminae terminalis in the febrile response of rabbits and rats. J Physiol. 1985 Nov;368:501–511. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1985.sp015872. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Stitt J. T. Prosaglandin E1 fever induced in rabbits. J Physiol. 1973 Jul;232(1):163–179. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1973.sp010262. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Stitt J. T. Prostaglandin E as the neural mediator of the febrile response. Yale J Biol Med. 1986 Mar-Apr;59(2):137–149. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Williams J. W., Rudy T. A., Yaksh T. L., Viswanathan C. T. An extensive exploration of the rat brain for sites mediating prostaglandin-induced hyperthermia. Brain Res. 1977 Jan 21;120(2):251–262. doi: 10.1016/0006-8993(77)90904-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The Journal of Physiology are provided here courtesy of The Physiological Society

RESOURCES