title: The relationship of aging to endotoxin shock and to production of TNF-alpha.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Aged people are considered prone to gram-negative bacteremia and septic shock. This relationship was tested in murine endotoxin shock.
  
  
  METHODS
  Balb/c mice of various ages (1.4-13.4 months) were intraperitoneally injected with lipopolysaccharide (LPS), and rates of survival were observed. The production of TNF-alpha in vivo induced by LPS was measured.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The survival rates were the smallest in the oldest and youngest groups. Production of TNF-alpha attained a maximum at 2 h after LPS injection and was smaller in the oldest group; it had a reciprocal relationship to survival rates in each group except the youngest group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Old and young mice had smaller rates of survival and greater production of TNF-alpha following endotoxin shock induced by LPS.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: H N
authors.initials: HN
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: S R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Chiang
authors.forename: W J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Teng
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: D F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: H Y
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Y Y
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Tsai
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D012772:Shock, Septic / Q000378:metabolism*; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000096:biosynthesis*
chemical_list: D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha