Summary
The effect of intravenously injected dexamethasone on the febrile response of rabbits to Polyinosinic: Polycytidylic acid (Poly I:C), lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and interleukin 1/endogenous pyrogen (IL1/E.P.) was studied. Dexamethasone (1 mg/kg) attenuated the febrile response to Poly I:C (5 μg/kg) but only if administered between 0.5 to 2 h before Poly I:C. If it was given after Poly I : C this resulted in a potentiation of the fever. Antagonism of the febrile response to Poly I:C by dexamethasone pre-treatment was dose-dependent and a maximal effect was observed with 3 mg/kg, a higher dose (6 mg/kg) resulted in a lesser effect on the Poly I:C fever. DEX injected alone (0.5–6 mg/kg) did not have any effect on body temperature. Fevers in response to LPS (50 ng/kg) and IL1/E.P. were also attenuated by dexamethasone. It is concluded that Poly I:C, LPS and IL1/E.P. induce fever by a common mechanism which is either directly or indirectly inhibited by dexamethasone.
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Abul, H., Davidson, J., Milton, A.S. et al. Dexamethasone pre-treatment is antipyretic toward polyinosinic: polycytidylic acid, lipopolysaccharide and interleukin 1/endogenous pyrogen. Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Arch Pharmacol 335, 305–309 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00172802
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00172802