Lexic.us

Definition of Endotoxin

1. Noun. A toxin that is confined inside the microorganisms and is released only when the microorganisms are broken down or die.

Definition of Endotoxin

1. Noun. Any toxin secreted by a microorganism and released into the surrounding environment only when it dies. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Endotoxin

1. [n -S]

Medical Definition of Endotoxin

1. Heat stable polysaccharide like toxin bound to a bacterial cell. The term is used more specifically to refer to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of the outer membrane of gram-negative bacteria. There are three parts to the molecule, the Lipid A (six fatty acid chains linked to two glucosamine residues), the core oligosaccharide (branched chain of ten sugars) and a variable length polysaccharide side chain (up to 40 sugar units in smooth forms) that can be removed without affecting the toxicity (rough LPS). Some endotoxin is probably released into the medium and endotoxin is responsible for many of the virulent effects of gram-negative bacteria. This entry appears with permission from the Dictionary of Cell and Molecular Biology (11 Mar 2008)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Endotoxin

Literary usage of Endotoxin

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine (1903)
"Glucose oxidation in vivo in BCG infected mice before and after endotoxin challenge. The endo- toxin treated mice were given one /ig endotoxin iv 1 hr prior ..."

2. Studies in Immunity by Jules Bordet (1909)
"THE endotoxin OF THE WHOOPING-COUGH BACILLUS.* BY DR. BORDET. In the recent studies on whooping-cough with Dr. Gengou we have succeeded in obtaining an ..."

3. Oxygen/Nitrogen Radicals and Cellular Injury edited by Kenneth B. Adler, Robert D. Devlin, Val Vallyathan (2000)
"endotoxin-induced uveitis in rabbits is induced by a single intravitreal injection of endo toxin (10 ng; Escherichia colt) into one eye of New Zealand white ..."

4. Children's Environmental Health Research: Indoor Mold and Children's Health edited by Allen Dearry, Gwen Collman (2000)
"Cotton dust and endotoxin exposure-response relationships in cotton textile workers. Am Rev Respir Dis 135:194-200 (1987). 34. ..."

5. Papers and Proceedings of the Surgeon General's Conference on Agricultural edited by Melvin L. Myers (1994)
"Recent experimental evidence has clearly demonstrated that the acute airway response of humans exposed to cotton dust is associated with airborne endotoxin ..."

6. Reviews in Environmental Health (1998): Toxicological Defense Mechanics edited by Gary E. R. Hook, George W. Lucier (2000)
"Lipopolysaccharide (endotoxin) has also been used in rats to induce a form ... Repeated instillation or inhalation of endotoxin induces an increase in the ..."

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