Species specificity of leukocytic pyrogens.

Polymorphonuclear neutrophilic leukocytes of the dog, cat, and goat release leukocytic pyrogen under the same conditions as the heterophile polymorphonuclear leukocytes of the rabbit. The characteristics of the febrile response to an intravenous injection of homologous leukocytic pyrogen in all four species are very similar: a brisk monophasic fever reaching a peak between 30 and 50 min with smooth defervescence to the baseline by 3 hr. Shivering, which is not obvious in the rabbit, is noted in the dog, cat, and goat during the first 30 min. Quantitative differences in response reveal the cat to be the most sensitive of of these species to homologous leukocytic pyrogen, followed by the rabbit, dog, and goat. The response to heterologous pyrogen is in most cases markedly diminished compared to that after equal doses of homologous protein, suggesting the operation of species specificity, although canine and feline pyrogen behaved very similarly in all tests. Species specificity of leukocytic pyrogen is probably related to amino acid substitutions in different species of a common mammalian protein effector molecule.