: In bacterial diseases there is the thought that since with fever one sees a
: decrease in the iron available to the bacteria, this reduces their ability
: to multiply.
And the rest of it....
Fever increases the mobility of leucocytes.
Fever increases neutrophil migration rate.
Fever increases bacteriocide secretion by neutrophils.
Fever enhances the antiviral, anti-tumour and antibacterial properties of
interferon.
Fever involves an increase in IL-1 and IL-6. These decrease plasma Fe concs.
independently of the fever, but synergistically decrease bacterial
growth rate.
Many bacteria cannot produce iron chelating agents at higher temperatures
and therefore cannot aquire enough iron for growth.
The iron thing is probably the most interesting from a mechanistic point of
view.
Dr. Nigel C. Eastmond | Email nce at liv.ac.uk
Dept. Pharmacology and Therapeutics | Tel. +44 (0)151 794 5541
University of Liverpool | Fax. +44 (0)151 794 5540
Liverpool L69 3BX | Mobile 0468 453892