Production of Fever and the Shwartzman Phenomenon by Native Dextran.

Abstract

It has been found that the injection of crude or native dextrans in rabbits produces leukopenia and fever. Evidence is offered that these effects are not due to contamination by bacterial pyrogen. Dextran is also capable of eliciting the Shwartzman reaction in animals prepared by intradermal injection of bacterial toxin. The reaction elicited by dextran resembles that seen after injection of starch or glycogen in its early appearance and in the lack of systemic manifestations of intoxication in the animals tested.