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Olorunfemi O.J*
Department of Human Physiology, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, University of Port Harcourt, Choba, Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
A B S T R A C T
This study was aimed at analyzing the effect of pyrexia on cognitive motor functions in young wistar rats. The effects of Baker yeast-induced pyrexia were assessed. Rectal temperature (T) was recorded every hour for 12 h (07:00-19:00 h) with a thermometer. The animals were injected intraperitoneally with baker yeast (0.135g/kg). The administration of 0.135 g/kg baker yeast induced a sustained increase in rectal temperature for 4 h. An antipyretic was introduced intraperitoneally, at doses that had effect, which reverted baker yeast-induced pyrexia. The method presented induced a substantial level of pyrexia, which was reverted by antipyretics commonly used in human beings and selected novel antipyretics in small animals. A group was also administered with epinephrine. The effect of pyrexia on the cognitive functions of the study animals was observed using different task such as hand grip task, navigational maze test, inverted screen test, beam walking test and escape test. The test was done one trial per week and the performance on the various test duly recorded. Results revealed that cognitive functions were significantly (p<0.05) decreased by pyrexia and physical stress. The animals also showed a visible impairment in motor functions such as fine motor coordination and skills which clearly describes the negative effect of pyrexia on motor functions. The result also showed that the fever-induced animal showed a significantly positive response to the antipyretic. Therefore, this study describes the extent and effect of pyrexia on cognitive motor functions.
Keywords: pyrexia, cognitive motor function, yeast, baker, navigational maze test, epinephrine.
