COMPARATIVE EFFECTS OF ENDOTOXIN ON CANINE AND PRIMATE INTESTINE

The purpose of this study was to compare the responses of perfused monkey and dog intestine following lethal intravenous injections of E. coli endotoxin. Experiments were carried out on adult anesthetized, partially enterectomized rhesus monkeys and mongrel dogs. A loop of the isolated small intestine was perfused by blood obtained from the femoral artery. Studies were carried out for 2 hours after endotoxin. Mean systemic arterial pressures fell to identical minimal values by 90 minutes postendotoxin. Mesenteric resistances initially elevated in both species differed markedly during the course of the experiment; resistance maintained at elevated values in dogs and declined markedly below control values in monkeys. Intestinal weight increases after endotoxin in the dog greatly exceeded those of the monkey, which were modified only minimally. Results from this study require further evaluation in terms of the pathogenesis of bacteremic shock in man. © 1968.