ENDOTOXINS AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE FOR MURINE TRYPANOSOMIASIS

The study of endotoxins is complicated by their heterogenous nature, t heir multiple effects and the complex methodologies required for their identification, in this brief review, Vic Pentreath summarizes how th e substances have been implicated in the pathogenesis of several disea ses caused by parasitic protozoa, and how the parasites (eg. Plasmodiu m falciparum and Trypanosoma cruzi) may themselves contain endotoxin-l ike materials. Recent studies have shown that, during T. b. brucei inf ection in mice, serum endotoxin levels become markedly elevated and th at endotoxin-like substances are also present in the purified parasite extracts.