A comparative study of the antipyretic effects of indomethacin and dipyrone in rats.

OBJECTIVE: Compare the antipyretic effects of dipyrone and indomethacin. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fever was induced in rats by i. v. LPS or i. c. v. interleukins (IL), prostaglandins (PG), arachidonic acid (AA), pre-formed pyrogenic factor (PFPF), tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) or corticotrophin releasing hormone (CRH). Dipyrone and indomethacin were administered i.p., arginine vasopressin V1-receptor antagonist, d(CH2)5 Tyr(Me)AVP, into the ventral septal area. Cyclooxygenase (COX-1/-2) blocking activity was assessed in transfected COS-7 cells. CRH release from isolated hypothalami was determined by ELISA. RESULTS: Indomethacin or dipyrone reduced LPS, IL-1beta, IL-6 or TNF-alpha induced fever and CRH release from rat hypothalamus. Only dipyrone inhibited IL-8, PFPF or PGF2alpha fever. Only indomethacin inhibited fever induced by AA or IL-1beta, plus AA. Neither antipyretic affected fever caused by PGE2 or CRH. d(CH2)5Tyr(Me)AVP only blocked antipyresis induced by indomethacin. Dipyrone at a very high concentration (10 mM) inhibited only COX-1, while indomethacin (0.1 microM) blocked COX-1 and COX-2 in COS-7 cells. CONCLUSION: The antipyretic effect of dipyrone differs from that of indomethacin in that it does not depend on AVP release or inhibition of PG synthesis.

Fever induction pathways: evidence from responses to systemic or local cytokine formation

The immune and central nervous systems are functionally connected and interacting. The concept that the immune signaling to the brain which induces fever during infection and inflammation is mediated by circulating cytokines has been traditionally accepted. Administration of bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induces the appearance of a so-termed "cytokine cascade" in the circulation more or less concomitantly to the developing febrile response. Also, LPS-like fever can be induced by systemic administration of key cytokines (IL-1ß, TNF-alpha, and others). However, anti-cytokine strategies against IL-1ß or TNF-alpha along with systemic injections of LPS frequently lead to attenuation of the later stages of the febrile response but not of the initial phase of fever, indicating that cytokines are rather involved in the maintenance than in the early induction of fever. Within the last years experimental evidence has accumulated indicating the existence of neural transport pathways of immune signals to the brain. Because subdiaphragmatic vagotomy prevents or attenuates fever in response to intraperitoneal or intravenous injections of LPS, a role for vagal afferent nerve fibers in fever induction has been proposed. Also other sensory nerves may participate in the manifestation of febrile responses under certain experimental conditions. Thus, injection of a small dose of LPS into an artificial subcutaneous chamber results in fever and formation of cytokines within the inflamed tissue around the site of injection. This febrile response can be blocked in part by injection of a local anesthetic into the subcutaneous chamber, indicating a participation of cutaneous afferent nerve signals in the manifestation of fever in this model. In conclusion, humoral signals and an inflammatory stimulation of afferent sensory nerves can participate in the generation and maintenance of a febrile response