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Pyrogens

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

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Substances that cause fever are called pyrogens.

Exogenous pyrogens are mostly derived from microbes, microbial products or toxins, such as gram-negative endotoxin (bacterial lipopolysaccharides) or the toxin from Staphyllococcus aureus, which a cause septicaemic and toxic shock respectively.

Endogenous pyrogens are cytokines (polypeptides) produced in particular by monocyte macrophages but also by skin, endothelial, epithelial and glial cells.

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