Pathogenesis of fever: effects of various endogenous pyrogens upon the level of circulating granulocytes in normal rabbits.

The endogenous pyrogen in the serum or plasma of rabbits 2 hours after the intravenous injection of typhoid vaccine had a marked effect on the circulating leucocytes of normal rabbits. Immediately following intravenous injection there was a brief, but marked, granulocytopenia which was quickly followed by a granulocytosis. Under the same circumstances pooled heterologous serum or plasma from normal rabbits produced no fever or significant change in the level of circulating leucocytes. The cell-free fluid of sterile peritoneal exudates produced a marked leucocytosis without a preceding leucopenia when injected intravenously into normal rabbits. When comparably pyrogenic doses of typhoid vaccine were injected in the same manner no significant change in the level of circulating leucocytes occurred. The relevance of these findings to the pathogenesis of fever is discussed.