Assessment of circulating endotoxin during the perioperative period, which is only demonstrated by the Limulus amebocyte lysate (LAL) test, may be modulated by several endotoxin-binding proteins. Endotoxin-neutralizing capacity (ENC) and the plasma levels of soluble CD14 (sCD14), lipopolysaccharide-binding protein, and bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein (BPI) were determined in 40 pat...

Volunteers infected with Salmonella typhosa develop a remarkable hyperreactivity to the pyrogenic and subjective toxic activities of homologous (S. typhos) and heterologous (Pseudomonas) endotoxins. The present studies quantitate this augmented reactivity and demonstrate by three differing approaches that significant tolerance to these endotoxins can be readily induced within the framework of t...

Individual exposures to particulate matter and endotoxin in dairies have increased as operations have transitioned to larger herd sizes. A cross-sectional study at 13 California dairies and one non-dairy control facility was conducted to determine associations between endotoxin concentrations measured in fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and respiratory function in these workers. Previous researc...

We examined the effects of prolonged hyperoxia (75% O(2)) on lung structure and collagen metabolism in the subacute phase of lung injury induced by continuous infusion of endotoxin (LPS) in a rat model. Experimental groups included control, endotoxin alone, endotoxin plus hyperoxia, and hyperoxia alone. Endotoxin-treated rats received a bolus of LPS (10 mg/kg i.v.) followed by 500 microg.kg(-1)...

BACKGROUND Sepsis and endotoxemia attenuate hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction (HPV), thereby impairing systemic oxygenation. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are implicated in the pathogenesis of sepsis-induced lung injury. The authors investigated whether treatment with scavengers of ROS prevents impairment of HPV in mice challenged with endotoxin. METHODS The pulmonary vasoconstrictor respons...

BACKGROUND Although research has shown that early life exposure to household endotoxin protects against development of allergies, studies are less clear on the relationship between household endotoxin exposure and prevalence of wheezing and asthma. We assayed 2,552 house dust samples in a representative nationwide sam- ple to explore relationships between endotoxin exposures and risk factors fo...

The spleen is involved in endotoxin-induced interleukin-6 (IL-6) production. To quantitate the relative contribution of the spleen to endotoxin-induced IL-6 production, we studied the effect of endotoxin (1.0 microg/kg of body weight) in control dogs (n = 7) and splenectomized dogs (n = 7). Blood for analysis of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and IL-6 was sampled from the femoral artery and the po...

Bacterial endotoxins stimulate endothelin-mediated, thromboxane-dependent increases in pulmonary vascular resistance in mammals, and thromboxane has been shown to cause an immediate but transient pulmonary vasoconstriction in broiler chickens. In the present study, i.v. injections of 1 mg endotoxin into anesthetized male broilers caused a pulmonary vasoconstrictive response that was delayed in ...

Endotoxin is a component of gram-negative bacteria that causes hematologic and immunologic changes through its induction of cytokines. Interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra) is a naturally occurring inhibitor of IL-1 that competes with IL-1 for occupancy of cell-surface receptors but possesses no agonist activity. We investigated the ability of human recombinant IL-1Ra to block the effects ...

The body weight-decreasing effect of sublethal doses of endotoxin was enhanced in mice administered with such an amount of lead acetate that had no effect by itself on body weight. The enhancing effects of administration of lead acetate prior to, simultaneously with and after endotoxin administration were analyzed and compared by statistical methods. Linear dose-response relation between logari...