Characteristics and applications of adsorbents for pyrogen removal.

Characteristics and applications of immobilized histidine and immobilized histamine for pyrogen removal were investigated. Immobilized histidine showed a high affinity for pyrogen at low ionic strength and over a wide pH range. The adsorption capacity was 0.53 mg of lipopolysaccharide per milliliter of the adsorbent. The apparent dissociation constant was 1.57 X 10(-9) M. The adsorption of pyrogen to immobilized histidine decreased with increasing ionic strength, but pyrogen could be adsorbed even at ionic strengths of gamma/2 = 0.05-0.1, at which other substances were little adsorbed; that is, specific adsorption of pyrogen was observed. The adsorption of pyrogen could be increased at ionic strengths of gamma/2 = 0.05-0.1 by using a lower flow rate or a longer column length. Immobilized histidine and immobilized histamine could be used for the removal of natural pyrogens contaminating various useful low-molecular-weight compounds as well as high-molecular-weight compounds such as proteins.