Endotoxin-induced changes in human platelet membranes: morphologic evidence
DH Ausprunk and J Das
Interaction between human platelets and bacterial endotoxin was studied in
vitro with transmission and scanning electron microscopy. Washed human
platelets, whose aggregation was blocked with apyrase, were incubated in a
plasma-free medium containing crude endotoxin that had previously been
complexed with copper. Thirty minutes of incubation resulted in adherence
of endotoxin particles to the platelet surface, breaks in the platelet
plasma membrane with apparent attempts at repair, pseudoped formation, and
centralization of platelet organelles. Copper appeared to potentiate these
phenomena, since neither Cu2+ at low concentrations nor endotoxin alone
altered the morphology of the platelet membrane. This platelet-endotoxin
interaction may be an intermediary step in the detoxification and clearance
of endotoxin from the plasma.
Volume 51,
Issue 3,
pp. 487-495,
03/01/1978
Copyright © 1978 by The American Society of Hematology
