Brain kinins and fever induced by bacterial pyrogens in rabbits

Central involvement of kinin B1 and B2 receptors in the febrile response induced by endotoxin in rats

“…In conclusion, the present results, with a different pharmacological approach, give further support to our previous results (Pelé et al , 1975; Almeida e Silva & Pelé, 1978) showing the involvement of kinins in the induction of LPS‐induced fever. The present results indicate that activation of central B 2 and B 1 kinin receptors may be involved in the induction and maintenance of LPS‐induced fever, respectively.…”

Kinins in the brain

“…In addition, in the rat the kininogen content of the cerebellar region decreased following convulsive death produced by pentetrazol (subcutaneous, 200 mg/ kg) but not by strychnine nitrate (subcutaneous 4 mg/ kg) or anoxia produced by inhalation of nitrogen gas. In contrast, Pela et al (1975) reported that kininogen was almost exclusively localized in the hypothalamus and lower in the brain stem. Scicli et af.…”

“…Attempts to identify endogenous kinins in the brain have been frustrated by both the presence of kininases and the lack of specificity in the assays. For some time bioassays involving contractile effects of smooth muscle preparations suggested the presence of kinins in brain extracts (Inouye et al, 1961;Hori, 1968;Werle and Zach, 1970;Pela et al, 1975). More recently, immunocytochemical studies using antisera raised against bradykinin have revealed neuronal bodies and fibres containing immunoreactive bradykinin (Correa et al, 1979).…”

Bradykinin and Pain

“…However, both kallikrein and kininase activities could be associated physiologically with peptides other than bradykinin. Bioassays involving contractile effects upon smooth muscle suggested the presence of bradykinin in brain extracts, but the specificity of such bioassays is relatively poor (68,(75)(76)(77). Moreover, careful purification was not performed to rule out the possibility that substances other than bradykinin accounted for these effects.…”