Localization of Endotoxin in the Walls of the Peripheral Vascular System During Lethal Endotoxemia.

Abstract

A minimal lethal dose of E. coli 0111:B₄ endotoxin was injected intravenously into 3 dogs. Two were killed, one 10 and one 90 minutes after endotoxin administration. The third died of endotoxemia in 13 hours. By immunofluorescence, endotoxin was found in patchy distribution throughout the walls of the peripheral vascular system: frequently in the endothelium of capillaries and venules and, extra-cellular as well as intracellular, in the walls of veins; and, on occasion, extracellular and intracellular, in the media of arterioles and muscular arteries.