Summary
The levels of endotoxin in blood were determined using the Limulus lysate test in combination with a chromogenic substrate. Plasma was analyzed from four patients with fatal meningococcal septicaemia and from one patient who survived meningococcal meningitis. All septicaemia patients showed high levels of endotoxin in their blood during the early stage of their disease. In two of these patients, blood samples collected at intervals of two days revealed a gradual disappearance of measurable endotoxin from the circulation. The patient with meningitis had no clinical signs of circulatory deficiency or coagulopathy and was consistently negative for endotoxin using this test procedure. Pretreating the plasma with heat and alkali and combining the Limulus lysate test with a chromogenic substrate seem to provide a sensible method for the detection and quantitation of endotoxin in blood.
Zusammenfassung
Der Limulus-Lysat-Test wurde in Kombination mit chromogenem Substrat zur quantitativen Bestimmung von Endotoxin im Blut eingesetzt. Die Untersuchung wurde an Plasma von vier Patienten mit tödlicher Meningokokkensepsis und einem Patienten, der eine Meningokokkenmeningitis überlebte, durchgeführt. Bei allen Patienten mit Sepsis fanden sich im Frühstadium der Erkrankung hohe Endotoxinspiegel im Blut. Bei zwei dieser Patienten war in Blutproben, die in zweitägigen Abständen entnommen wurden, ein schrittweises Verschwinden meßbaren Endotoxins aus dem zirkulierenden Blut festzustellen. Bei dem Patienten mit Meningitis bestanden keine Zeichen für ein Kreislaufversagen oder Koagulopathie; der Endotoxin-Test mit der genannten Methode war bei ihm ständig negativ. Bei Hitze- und Alkalivorbehandlung des Plasmas und Kombination mit chromogenem Substrat scheint der Limulus-Lysat-Test eine empfindliche Methode für den Nachweis und die quantitative Bestimmung von Endotoxin im Blut zu sein.
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Harthug, S., Bjorvatn, B. & Østerud, B. Quantitation of endotoxin in blood from patients with meningococcal disease using a Limulus lysate test in combination with chromogenic substrate. Infection 11, 192–195 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01641194
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01641194