, 2008). In a different way, we showed in this study that substance P is not involved in both IL-1β- and CCL3/MIP-α-induced fever. Therefore, the exact position of substance P in the fever cascade remains to be elucidated, although it does not appear to be downstream from IL-1β or CCL3/MIP-1α. In our opinion, the definition of this neuropeptide’s position in the network of cytokines and mediators induced during the febrile response comes before any speculation on how it could be activating heat conservation/production mechanisms. In summary, we showed here that a central, rather than a peripheral action of SP through NK1R is

relevant to LPS-induced fever. However, this neuropeptide is not involved in the febrile

response triggered by IL-1β, which elicits a prostaglandin-dependent fever, or CCL3/MIP-1α, which causes a prostaglandin-independent fever. SP may participate Belnacasan manufacturer in the febrile response induced by other endogenous pyrogens or Birinapant manufacturer it could be released before IL-1β or CCL3/MIP-1α; therefore, the precise role of substance P in the febrile response to LPS injection still needs further investigation. Experiments were conducted using male Wistar rats weighing 180 ± 20 g, housed at 22 ± 2 °C under a 12:12 h light–dark cycle (lights on at 07:00) and with free access to rat chow and tap water. All experiments were previously approved by the institution’s Ethics Committee for research on laboratory animals and were performed in accordance with the guidelines for animal care and use set by the National Institutes of Health (USA). Abdominal Amino acid body temperature was measured in conscious unrestrained rats using data loggers (Subcue data loggers, Calgary, Canada). These were implanted intraperitoneally under ketamine–xylazine (60 mg/kg–7.5 mg/kg) anesthesia and aseptic conditions 1 week prior to the experiment. Animals were treated with oxytetracycline hydrochloride (400 mg/kg i.m.) after surgery. Body temperature was continuously monitored and recorded at 15-min intervals from 2 h before any injection until 6 h after the injection of the pyrogenic stimulus. For the fever index, the

abdominal body temperature from baseline (4 measurements preceding any treatment) was determined for each individual animal and the baseline value was subtracted from the individual data points from 2 to 6 h after LPS, SP and CCL3/MIP-1α injection and from 1 to 6 h after IL-1β injection, considering the start time of the febrile response and excluding variations secondary to handling for injection. This approach allows calculation of the area under the curve (AUC) for each individual animal which was used as a fever index expressed in arbitrary units. During the experiment, room temperature was kept at 24 °C. When necessary, under the same anesthesia described for the implantation of the data loggers, a stainless steel guide cannula (0.