Comparative analysis of Lipopolysaccharide-induced tumor necrosis factor alpha activity in serum and lethality in mice and rabbits pretreated with the staphylococcal superantigen toxic shock syndrome toxin I

Host susceptibility to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is correlated with the levels of circulating tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) that develop in response to circulating LPS. Mice are resistant, relative to rabbits, to the lethal effects of LPS. This study indicates that mice and rabbits are equally sensitive to the lethal effects of circulating TNF-alpha but that mice are more resistant than rabbits to the induction of circulating TNF-alpha by LPS.