[Toxic activity of Legionella pneumophila: current findings and prospects]

The AA. report the personal contributions and the recent findings of other investigators dealing with the toxic activities of Legionella pneumophila, the causative agent of Legionnaires' Disease. From the results of some tests (particularly Limulus endotoxin assay, pyrogenic reaction, skin Shwartzman reaction) there is an increasing evidence that Legionella pneumophila possesses some of the in vitro and in vivo biological properties associated with endotoxins of Gram negative bacteria, even if to a different of potency in different strains. However, the exact roles of an endotoxin and other bacterial products (e.g. haemolysins) as a pathogenetic mediators of the pathophysiological events of the disease remain to be determined.