The Endotoxin of the Cholera Vibrio

Abstract

The profuse diarrhea, a prominent feature of Asiatic cholera in man, is usually attributed to the action of the endotoxin of the vibrios; whether the pathology of organs such as the kidney is produced by absorbed toxin or is a consequence of the marked dehydration and hypochloremia is not clear. Though in general the pharmacological activity of the bacterial endotoxins is not characteristic, some workers have reported that intravenous inoculation of experimental animals with toxic extracts produces a symptom complex analogous to that of the early stages of human cholera. Hahn and Hirsch, 1 for example, reported that a profuse diarrhea with a loss of 10-17% of the body weight of fluids is produced in young rabbits and Ghosh 2 has made similar observations. Pham 3 has produced a diarrhea accompanied by marked albuminuria leading to emaciation and death in guinea pigs and rabbits; postmortem examination showed hemorrhagic infiltration of the terminal portion of the small intestine, congestion of Peyer's patches and desquamation of the mucosa together with some pathology of the kidney. Less characteristic findings have been reported by Sanarelli 4 and by Basu, Chaudhury, Basu. 5

In a few instances the effect of toxic extracts on isolated tissues, heart and intestine, has been studied. Perfusion of the heart with toxic extracts is reported to produce paralysis 6 and peristalsis of the intestine is said to be stimulated by small doses of toxin and inhibited by large doses. 1 , 6

In our investigation of the pharmacological activity of purified endotoxin isolated from the cholera vibrio, 7 the effect of the toxin on the permeability of living membranes to fluid has been of some interest. Frog skin from the ventral surface and small intestine of the guinea pig and rabbit have been used; other membranes such as rabbit omentum proved too fragile or otherwise unsatisfactory.