Antipyretics. Ii. Acetylsalicylic Acid and Heat Regulation in Normal Individuals

Acetyl salicylic acid (aspirin), introduced into therapeutics by Dreser,1 is today the most widely used of antipyretic drugs.Its action on the heat regulating mechanism has, however, been subjected but little to careful investigation.That other salicylates possess anti- pyretic and analgesic properties of a feebler order than those of acetyl- salicylic acid was emphasized by the work of Bondi and Katz,2 who associated the difference with the fact that the acetyl ester appears to be absorbed and distributed largely intact, salicylate being but slowly split off in the intestine.The effects of this substance on the heat regulation of normal and of febrile human subjects, respectively, will be dealt with here and in the third paper of the series.Essentially, they are studies of the respiratory exchange in correlation with the body temperature.