Activation of brain regions of rats during fever

The central nervous structures involved in febrile responses were investigated in conscious rats by means of the 2-deoxy-D-[14C]glucose autoradiographic technique. An intravenous injection of endogenous pyrogen prepared from rabbit white blood cells induced a significant rise in the rectal temperature of rats accompanied by a decrease in the skin temperature. According to autoradiographs, significant increases in metabolic activity were observed in the lateral preoptic area, posterior part of dorsomedial thalamus, posterior hypothalamus and the red nucleus during an induced fever. Because of the close relationship between metabolic activity and brain function, these regions are considered to compose the neural components directly or indirectly related with the febrile responses.