Endogenous Shock-inducing Factor in Canine Haemorrhagic Shock

Abstract

DURING recent work in this laboratory^1,2 it was shown that a transferable ‘shock-inducing factor’ appears in the plasma of endotoxin-shocked adrenalectomized dogs. This factor was heat-unstable (56° C, 30 min) and seemed to act as a histamine-liberator on the liver and induced a marked hepatosplanchnic blood pooling. Moreover, it was shown that a similar factor can be extracted from the liver slices of the shocked animals by cold physiological saline solution. Thus the extreme susceptibility of adrenalectomized dogs to endotoxin has been attributed to the liberation of the ‘shock-inducing factor’ from the liver as the consequence of the disturbed hepatic metabolism after taking up endotoxins in the hepatic reticulo-endothelial cells. Pre-treatment with glucocorticoid could prevent both the hepatic metabolic disturbances, such as acute depletion of glycogen, and the release of the ‘shock-inducing factor’.