Pyrogen release in vitro by lymphoid tissues from patients with Hodgkin's disease.

The mechanism of fever in patients with Hodgkin's disease was investigated by examining endogenous pyrogen production by blood, spleen, and lymph node cells incubated in vitro. Blood leucocytes from febrile or afebrile patients with Hodgkin's disease did not produce pyrogen spontaneously. Spleen cells, however, frequently released pyrogen during initial incubations, unlike spleen cells from patients with non-malignant diseases. Pyrogen production occurred from spleens without observed pathologic infiltrates of Hodgkin's disease. Lymph nodes involved with Hodgkin's disease produced pyrogen more frequently than did nodes involved with other diseases. Pyrogen production by tissue cells was prolonged, required protein synthesis, and in some cases was due to mononuclear cells; it did not correlate with fever in the patient. These studies demonstrate spontaneous production of endogenous pyrogen in vitro by lymphoid tissue cells from patients with Hodgkin's disease.