[Morphological studies of the changes in the cerebral cortex in endotoxic shock in dogs]

The objective of this study is to gain knowledge on the morphologic changes in the brain cortex at the height of an endotoxin shock, since only scanty data on these changes are available in the literature. Sixteen dogs, injected intravenously with endotoxin of Escherichia coli strain 0111:B4 in a dose of 2 mg/kg bodyweight, comprised the study group. Four hours after the endotoxin injection the brains of all experimental animals were examined by routine histologic methods and of five of them--by electron microscopy. The results of light- and electron-microscopic examination showed that the morphologic lesions were localized in the microcirculatory area and the ganglial cells of the brain. The microcirculation changes included a wellmarked sludge-phenomenon and changes in endothelial cell structure (increase in the number of ribosomes and pinocytic vesicles, enhanced luminal evagination), which, as a whole, are a morphologic expression of increased vascular permeability. It is assumed that the observed cortical neurone changes are due to microcirculatory disorders and have no bearing on the direct action of endotoxin on them.