Local skin response in mice induced by a single intradermal injection of bacterial lipopolysaccharide and lipid A.

Dermal inflammation and hemorrhagic necrosis induced by bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and lipid A were studied in mice. In ddY mice, a single intradermal injection of Salmonella typhimurium S-form LPS and lipid A into the abdominal dermis elicited an edematous change due to an increase in local vascular permeability 12 h postinjection, followed by hemorrhagic necrosis from 24 to 72 h. This skin reaction was also induced in a dose-dependent manner by S-form LPS, R-mutant LPS, and lipid A of S. typhimurium and Escherichia coli, but not by polysaccharide from Salmonella S-form LPS. The dermal inflammation-inducing activities of LPS and lipid A were roughly in the following order (from highest to lowest): Re-form LPS, Rc-form LPS and lipid A, Ra-form LPS, and S-form LPS. These results suggest that the lipid A portion of the LPS molecule is responsible for the skin reaction. In C3H/HeN mice, Re-form LPS and lipid A induced the same intensity of skin reaction as that in ddY mice. In C3H/HeJ mice, which have a low response to LPS, Re-LPS and lipid A did not induce any hemorrhagic response but showed a distinct edematous change. Although hemorrhagic necrosis and edematous changes could be explained by quantitative differences in skin lesions, the other possible explanation is that hemorrhagic necrosis and the increase in local vascular permeability are induced by different mechanisms, only one of which depends on the regulation of the lps gene.