Experimental Medication Proven to Neutralize Endotoxin

AORN Journal, March, 1999

Results of a phase one study of an experimental medication designed to neutralize endotoxin were reported at the 1998 Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons. The medication, polymyxin B, has proven effective in neutralizing endotoxin, a natural product of gram-negative bacteria, in initial human studies.

Endotoxin can trigger the release of massive quantifies of immune system mediators and precipitate shock or organ failure in patients who are critically injured or septic. Polymyxin B has been known to be effective against endotoxin for many years; however, it has not been administered to patients in doses high enough to counteract excessive endotoxin because of potential toxicity at high doses to the kidneys and nervous system. The medication will continue to be studied in phase two trials in North America.

Experimental Form of Polymyxin B Counteracts Endotoxin in Humans (news release, Orlando, Fla: American College of Surgeons, Oct 26, 1998) 1-3.