SHOCK AND MULTIPLE-ORGAN DYSFUNCTION AFTER SELF-ADMINISTRATION OF SALMONELLA ENDOTOXIN

Endotoxin, a lipopolysaccharide component of the outer membrane of gram-negative bacteria, is involved in the pathogenesis of septic shock, but it is unclear whether endotoxin alone is capable of causing all the manifestations of the septic shock syndrome. In animals, endotoxin causes many of the clinical features1 but produces a low-cardiac-output form of shock that is unlike the hyperdynamic cardiovascular profile of septic shock in humans2,3. In humans, the administration of endotoxin (4 ng per kilogram of body weight) triggers the release of cytokines,4 activates the coagulation and fibrinolytic systems,5,6 and causes a decrease in systemic vascular… © 1993, Massachusetts Medical Society. All rights reserved.