Development of a chronic stress-induced low-grade fever animal model and its mechanisms

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

To obtain a better understanding of patients with persistent low-grade fever that develops in psychosocially stressful situations, we aimed to develop a stress-induced chronic low-grade fever (hyperthermia) animal model. We measured core body temperature (Tc) in male Wistar rats after they were subjected to 4 social defeat periods (each period consisting of 7 daily 1 h stress exposures during the light cycle followed by a stress-free day). After 4 periods of social defeat, stressed rats showed a small but significantly higher (+0.2-0.3℃) Tc versus control rats during both light and dark periods. They also showed depression-like behavior. Hyperthermia and depression-like behavior were still observed 8 days after cessation of the final social defeat session. These results suggest that repeated social defeat stress induces a chronic hyperthermia in rats that is associated with behavior resembling depression.