The effects of endotoxin shock, endotoxin tolerance, and lead acetate plus a minute amount of endotoxin on the serum ribonuclease activity of rats was measured. Changes in serum ribonuclease activity after various entoxin treatments could be a primary effect or a secondary effect of the damaging effect of endotoxin.

Endotoxin exposure has been proposed as an environmental determinant of allergen responses in children. To better understand the implications of using a single measurement of house dust endotoxin to characterize exposure in the first year of life, we evaluated room-specific within-home and between-home variability in dust endotoxin obtained from 470 households in Boston, Massachusetts. Homes we...

BACKGROUND An inverse association between domestic exposure to endotoxin and atopy in childhood has been observed. The relevance of this aspect of the hygiene hypothesis to US inner-city communities that have disproportionately high asthma prevalence has not been determined. OBJECTIVES To measure endotoxin in the dust from inner-city homes, evaluate associations between endotoxin and housing/...

The possible involvement of adrenergic mechanisms in the effects of Escherichia coli endotoxin was investigated in several preparations. Appropriate pretreatment of rabbits with E. coli endotoxin significantly increased pressor responses to epinephrine and norepinephrine as compared to untreated controls. Exposure of isolated rabbit aorta strips to E. coli endotoxin in a medium containing whole...

Endotoxin tolerance occurs to protect the organism from hyperactivation of innate immune responses, primarily mediated by macrophages. Regulation of endotoxin tolerance occurs at multiple levels of cell responses and requires significant changes in gene expression. In the process of macrophage activation, induced expression of microRNA (miR)-155 and miR-146a contributes to the regulation of the...

Enhanced lethality for BALB/c mice has been observed after the administration of Salmonella typhosa endotoxin with either actinomycin D, cycloheximide, or nogalamycin. The dose of actinomycin D required to kill half of the mice (LD(50)) was 0.8 mg/kg in normal animals, 0.35 mg/kg in mice administered 0.08 mg of endotoxin per kg, and 0.28 mg/kg in mice administered 0.2 mg of endotoxin per kg. Th...

1. A relationship between bacterial endotoxin absorbed from the gut and acute renal failure has been postulated. Experiments employing either the endotoxin-tolerant state or the enhancement of endotoxin injury were undertaken to test this relationship in rats. 2. Endotoxin tolerance was induced by the administration of increasing doses of Escherichia coli 026 lipopolysaccharide. The severity of...

INTRODUCTION Infections produce severe respiratory muscle weakness, which contributes to the development of respiratory failure. An effective, safe therapy to prevent respiratory muscle dysfunction in infected patients has not been defined. This study examined the effect of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), an immunomodulator that can be safely administered to patients, on diaphragm force generation...

Antenatal exposure to glucocorticoids, amnionitis, intraamniotic interleukin (IL)-1alpha, or endotoxin can improve postnatal lung function after preterm delivery. The relationship between early lung maturation and the dose and duration of a proinflammatory stimulus has not been evaluated. The effects of proinflammatory stimuli on fetal plasma cortisol also have not been evaluated. We hypothesiz...

Sepsis elicits severe alterations in cardiac function, impairing cardiac mitochondrial and pressure-generating capacity. Currently, there are no therapies to prevent sepsis-induced cardiac dysfunction. We tested the hypothesis that administration of a mitochondrially targeted antioxidant, 10-(6'-ubiquinonyl)-decyltriphenylphosphonium (MitoQ), would prevent endotoxin-induced reductions in cardia...