Methods for Detection of Bacterial Endotoxin in Critical Care Medicine

Abstract

Dedicated to reviewing the methods for detecting bacterial endotoxin in aqueous solutions and biological fluids, this review is focused on determining the content of endotoxin as a clinically relevant biomarker of sepsis caused by Gram-negative bacteria. The advantages and disadvantages of each method are described, and the characteristics of test systems currently used in clinical practice are listed and compared.

Keywords

• bacterial endotoxin
• lipopolysaccharide
• gram-negative bacteria
• sepsis
• lal-test
• endotoxin activity assay
• method of activated particles