Trials with human volunteers who were injected with Escherichia coli endotoxin indicate that the harmful effects of endotoxemia are not resolved with acquired tolerance.
Although the fever response to endotoxin in these volunteers decreased with the acquisition of tolerance, there appeared after the second and third doses of E coli endotoxin, an increase both in cellular sludging and stasis in the microcirculation, Robert M. Ollodart, MD, told the Multidiscipline Research Forum.
"It has always been assumed that as the fever response to endotoxin decreased, all other harmful sequelae of endotoxemia would also decrease," the University of Maryland investigator added. "However, it was hard to observe this (circulatory) phenomenon without feeling that if it were to proceed to a more severe degree it would lead to a lack of perfusion at the cellular level with anoxia and the manifestations of shock."
The trials were made in eight healthy men. Each was