Thermal injury mortality in germfree and conventional animals

Studies in germfree (GF) rats and mice demonstrated that GF animals were as sensitive if not more so to thermal injury than conventional (CV) animals. Death occurred in both groups after a similar period of time. There was no evidence of infection in either group. Using GF animals in other forms of injury such as hemorrhagic shock, others report that death occurred with equal frequency in both GF and CV animals. It is therefore postulated that sepsis cannot be the basic cause of death in severely traumatized patients. It is of utmost importance to control the toxic effect of tissue breakdown products before the vicious cycle of depressed immunological function and malnutrition ensues. A method of neutralizing the toxic effects of thermal injury by competition is described. Competitin is an "antitoxin" produced in vitro from "toxin(s)" isolated from burned human skin. Competitins to other toxin(s) have been produced and it is postulated that competitins may also be produced from the breakdown products of all forms of injury.