title: Endotoxin binding to platelets in blood from patients with a sepsis syndrome.
abstract: Endotoxin, the lipopolysaccharide cell wall constituent of Gram-negative bacteria, produces symptoms of the Gram-negative sepsis syndrome. By measuring endotoxin in blood from septic patients it may be possible to select a subpopulation of patients in which mortality can be prevented by treatment with anti-endotoxin antibodies. We evaluated the performance of an endotoxin-free blood-collection tube. Within-run and between-run CVs of our endotoxin assay were 4-18% and 8-20%, respectively. In endotoxin-positive samples (LPS > or = 6 ng/L), the concentration of endotoxin in platelet-rich plasma was significantly higher (P < 0.001) than in platelet-poor plasma. Apparent binding of endotoxin to platelets ranged from 0% to 92%. The correlation between the apparent percentage binding of LPS to platelets and the platelet count in platelet-rich plasma is linear and positive, but LPS is not bound solely to platelets. We conclude that endotoxin must be measured in platelet-rich plasma.
authors.affiliation: Stichting Deventer Ziekenhuis, Department of Clinical Chemistry, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Salden
authors.forename: B M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Bas
mesh_terms: D016470:Bacteremia / Q000097:blood*; D001792:Blood Platelets / Q000378:metabolism*; D004731:Endotoxins / Q000097:blood*; D016905:Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D007700:Kinetics; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013577:Syndrome
chemical_list: D004731:Endotoxins