Lipopolysaccharide detoxification by endotoxin neutralizing protein.

Endotoxin neutralizing protein (ENP), a recombinant form of the anti-lipopolysaccharide factor that was isolated from amebocytes of the American horseshoe crab, Limulus polyphemus, detoxifies lipopolysaccharide (LPS) both in vitro and in vivo. Using the Limulus amebocyte lysate assay, LPS was detoxified by ENP at a 1 to 1 weight ratio (1:1). When isolated rat aortic rings were preincubated for 16 hr with either LPS or LPS/ENP (1:5), only aortas in the LPS/ENP group contracted normally under norepinephrine stimulation. To show that detoxification of a lethal amount of LPS (18 mg/kg, LD50 at 48 hr) persists in vivo, LPS/albumin (1:1) or LPS/ENP (1:1) mixtures were preincubated (30 min, 37 degrees C) and then injected intravenously into rats. In the 8 hr after injection, LPS/ENP challenged rats, in contrast to their LPS/albumin injected counterparts, had significantly fewer physical signs of acute LPS toxicity (P < 0.001). At 48 hr after challenge, all LPS/ENP treated rats survived (P < 0.01 vs LPS/albumin), and with significantly less weight loss (P < 0.001 vs LPS/albumin challenged survivors). At necropsy, the LPS/ENP group was free of typical LPS-induced gross organ lesions, notably in the liver, spleen, gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT), and small intestine. By microscopic examination, lymphocytic necrosis in the spleen and GALT of the LPS/ENP treated survivors was significantly milder than that in the LPS/albumin challenged survivors, although the degree of hepatocellular necrosis and small intestinal enteritis was similar. LPS-neutralizing proteins such as ENP may be useful in treating LPS toxicity.