title: Suppression of PGE(2) fever at near term: reduced thermogenesis but not enhanced vasopressin antipyresis.
abstract: Fevers are known to be suppressed near term in the mother, but the mechanism responsible for this phenomenon is not understood. We tested the hypothesis that the suppression of fever at term is a result of enhanced vasopressin-induced antipyresis. Effects of intracerebroventricular prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2)) were examined in rats at gestational days 16-17 and 19-20 (near term) and days 1-2 postpartum. PGE(2) (50 ng) elevated body and interscapular brown adipose tissue (iBAT) temperatures and increased sympathetic nerve activity to the iBAT. PGE(2)-induced changes in iBAT temperature and nerve activity, as well as in rectal temperature, were reduced or eliminated near term, and responses were recovered in the postpartum period. Blood pressure and heart rate changes induced by central PGE(2) were also decreased at near term. Coinfusion of Manning compound, a V(1) vasopressin receptor antagonist, with PGE(2) throughout the peripartum period did not reverse the suppressed iBAT temperature and nerve activity or body temperature responses to PGE(2). Microdialysis experiments revealed unchanged terminal release of vasopressin in the ventral septal area after PGE(2) infusion in either pregnant or parturient rats. These results suggest that fever reduction at near term is not associated with enhanced vasopressin antipyresis, but may be a result of reduced sympathetic tone and in particular a reduced sympathetic drive to the iBAT. This finding may reflect a generalized reduction in autonomic output around the time of parturition.
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Research Group, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Calgary, Alberta T2N 4N1, Canada.
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hirasawa
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Landgraf
authors.forename: Q J
authors.initials: QJ
authors.lastname: Pittman
mesh_terms: D002001:Adipose Tissue, Brown / Q000294:innervation / Q000503:physiopathology; D000818:Animals; D065092:Antidiuretic Hormone Receptor Antagonists; D001831:Body Temperature / Q000502:physiology; D001833:Body Temperature Regulation / Q000502:physiology; D002319:Cardiovascular System / Q000187:drug effects / Q000503:physiopathology; D036861:Delivery, Obstetric; D015232:Dinoprostone / Q000494:pharmacology; D005260:Female; D005334:Fever / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D009420:Nervous System / Q000187:drug effects / Q000503:physiopathology; D049590:Postpartum Period / Q000502:physiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011270:Pregnancy, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012007:Rectum / Q000503:physiopathology; D014667:Vasopressins / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D065092:Antidiuretic Hormone Receptor Antagonists; D014667:Vasopressins; D015232:Dinoprostone