Lipopolysaccharide injected into the cerebral ventricle evokes fever through induction of cyclooxygenase-2 in brain endothelial cells.

Activation of the arachidonic acid cascade is an essential step for the development of fever during brain inflammation. We investigated the brain sites where this activation takes place by use of a rat model of brain inflammation. Intracerebroventricular administration of lipopolysaccharide but not of its vehicle evoked fever. The fever was markedly suppressed when the rats had been pretreated with a cyclooxygenase-2-specific inhibitor. In situ hybridization and immunohistochemical studies revealed that cyclooxygenase-2 mRNA and its protein were induced by lipopolysaccharide in blood vessels near the cerebral ventricles and in those in the subarachnoidal space. Double immunohistochemical staining revealed that these cyclooxygenase-2-positive cells were mostly endothelial cells. The time course of fever and that of cyclooxygenase-2 induction in the endothelial cells were in parallel. Cyclooxygenase-2 mRNA in a certain type of telencephalic neurons was also upregulated by the intracerebroventricular administration, but this neuronal response occurred both in vehicle-injected rats and in lipopolysaccharide-injected ones to the same extent. Therefore, the neuronal response was not essential to the development of fever. These results suggest that brain endothelial cells play a crucial role in the development of fever during brain inflammation by activating their arachidonic acid cascade.