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. 1961 Oct 31;114(5):729–739. doi: 10.1084/jem.114.5.729

STUDIES ON THE PATHOGENESIS OF FEVER

VIII. FURTHER OBSERVATIONS ON THE ROLE OF ENDOGENOUS PYROGEN IN ENDOTOXIN FEVER

Samuel M Gillman 1, Donald L Bornstein 1, W Barry Wood Jr 1
PMCID: PMC2180372  PMID: 13898672

Abstract

Rabbits made granulocytopenic with nitrogen mustard have been 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 leucopenic 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.

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Selected References

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