Bacterial Endotoxins

Book excerpt: Microbial Toxins, Volume V: Bacterial Endotoxins covers the physiology, pathology, and immunology of bacterial endotoxins. The book discusses the relationship of lipopolysaccharide structure to bacterial virulence; the importance of blood-group and Forssman antigenic determinants in interactions between human and microbes; and the chemical modification of endotoxin and inactivation of its biological properties. The text also describes the effects of endotoxic lipopolysaccharides on the complement system; the host-dependent detoxification of bacterial endotoxin; and the metabolic effects of bacterial endotoxins. The release of vasoactive agents and the vascular effects of endotoxin are also considered. The book further tackles the febrile response to endotoxin; some major aspects and the relationship between shock and endotoxemia; as well as the effects of lipopolysaccharides (endotoxins) on the susceptibility to infections. The text also encompasses the role of hypersensitivity and tolerance in reactions to endotoxins. Pathologists, immunologists, physiologists, and microbiologists will find the book invaluable.