Studies on the Generalized Shwartzman Reaction

Intravenous injection of thorotrast or trypan blue rendered rabbits susceptible to the production of bilateral cortical necrosis of the kidneys by a single intravenous injection of small amounts of meningococcal or Serratia marcescens toxin. This reaction was not produced when thorotrast or trypan blue were injected after toxin had been given. A single intradermal injection of toxin produced hemorrhagic skin lesions resembling the local Shwartzman reaction in rabbits given thorotrast 6 hours previously. These animals also developed bilateral cortical necrosis of the kidneys. When the order of injection was reversed, and thorotrast given after toxin, neither skin nor kidney lesions occurred. The skin and kidney lesions in thorotrast-treated rabbits were, like the local and generalized Shwartzman reactions, completely prevented by treatment with nitrogen mustard, in doses sufficient to produce polymorphonuclear leukopenia. The significance of these reactions, and their relationship to the previously described response to toxin in cortisone-treated rabbits, are discussed.