Changes in the Parenchymatous Organs Produced by Artificially Induced Fever

Abstract

The purpose of this experimental study has not been to investigate the pathological changes which could be produced by lethal doses of artificially induced fever, as has been done previously by Hartman, Jacobsen and Hosoi, Baldwin and Nelson, and a few others, 1 but to make a quantitative comparison between the organ changes occurring in fatal and non-fatal doses of fever, and to investigate the fate of these changes after recovery of the animal. In our series of experiments male adult rabbits of a healthy standard breed were used. Nine animals died after a rapid high rise of temperature induced by the diatherm or radiotherm in a short period of 30 minutes (Group A); 9 animals succumbed to a fever of 108° to 109° in a time interval from 8 to 9 hours (Group B); 5 animals were kept at a temperature of 107° until death occurred after an estimated time of about 40 hours (Group C); and 5 animals were exposed once a week 6 times and killed by air embolus one week after the last exposure. Twelve animals served as controls, 6 of which received similar doses of nembutal as used in our fever experiments in order to study the effect of this drug (Group E).

The principal pathological changes in the parenchymatous organs have been grouped in Table I. The frequency of their occurrence in each experimental group is indicated by a plus sign: 1+ indicates a frequency from 5 to 25%; 2+ a frequency up to 50%, 3+ to 75%, 4+ to 100%. Because of the relatively small number of animals used, this was thought to be a more truthful index than the quotation of actual percentage figures.