Incubation of Pasteurella haemolytica and Pasteurella multocida lipopolysaccharide with sheep lung surfactant.

Lipopolysaccharides (LPS) were extracted from a serotype of each of 2 species of Pasteurella isolated from sheep with respiratory tract infections. Lipopolysaccharides from P haemolytica 82-25 (serotype 1A) or P multocida P-1573 (serotype 12) were mixed with sheep lung surfactant and were incubated for 6 hours at 37 C. After incubation, LPS-surfactant mixtures were centrifuged overnight in sucrose density gradients, and fractions were analyzed. Binding occurred between LPS and surfactant vesicles resulting in a stable complex with densities greater than those with the surfactant alone. The surfactant alone had a density of 1.052 to 1.060 g/ml. Diffuse bands of surfactant had a density of 1.075 to 1.092 when incubated with P haemolytica LPS and a density of 1.069 to 1.105 when incubated with P multocida LPS.