Increased histamine sensitivity in mice after administration of endotoxins

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Abstract
CFW mice given submicrogram doses of endotoxins intravenously became highly susceptible to the lethal effects of 0.5 mg of histamine given intraperitoneally 1 to 2 h later. The histamine-sensitizing effects of the endotoxins were transitory and disappeared within 6 to 8 h. L-Epinephrine administered intravenously immediately after histamine challenge protected mice from death, but aterenol and isoproterenol were ineffective. The histamine-sensitizing effect in endotoxins was precipitated by anti-endotoxin sera with a concomitant eightfold loss in activity. However, dissociation of the immune complex in 0.25 M acetic acid fully restored histamine-sensitizing activity. The transitory nature of the hypersensitivity produced by endotoxin and the high heat resistance of the active material prove that it is different from the histamine-sensitizing effects of pertussigen.