Anti-TNF-alpha antibodies normalized body temperature and enhanced food intake in tumor-bearing rats.

Anorectic weight-losing Fischer 344 rats bearing a methylcholanthrene-induced sarcoma received intraperitoneal injections of rabbit antiserum raised against murine tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha at 14, 18, and 24 days after tumor induction. Treatment of tumor-bearing rats with TNF antiserum partially reversed the tumor-induced reduction in food intake compared with tumor-bearing rats that received control serum. In the same tumor-bearing animals, treatment with TNF antiserum delayed the onset and significantly reduced the decline in mean 12-h daytime and nighttime intra-abdominal temperatures on days 18-25. However, anti-TNF antibody treatment did not alter the declines in carcass weight or motor activity measured from day of tumor induction until death or reduce the tumor burden at death. We conclude that an endogenous TNF response may be one of the factors involved in the development of cancer anorexia and that this cytokine has temperature-lowering properties.