Steroid pyrogen studies in laboratory and domestic animals

¹ Department of Medicine, The University of Chicago and the Argonne Cancer Research Hospital, Chicago, Illinois

The 5ß-H steroid hormone metabolites, etiocholanolone (3-hydroxyetiocholan-17-one), pregnanolone (3-hydroxypregnan-20-one) and 11-ketopregnanolone (3-hydroxypregnan-11, 20-dione) were administered by intramuscular, intravenous and intrathecal injection in doses of 1.0 and 5.0 mg/kg body weight to various species of animals including cats, dogs, rats, mice, guinea pigs, rabbits, monkeys, sheep, steers, burros and pigs in order to determine whether these species were susceptible to the pyrogenic action of steroids. In addition, certain animals received injections of the 5-H steroid metabolite, androsterone (3-hydroxyandrostan-17-one). None of these animals developed pyrogenic responses to these steroid hormone transformation products indicating that the fever-producing action of 5ß-H steroid metabolites previously noted in human beings is apparently a form of biological activity which is highly species specific.