Comparison of the histamine hypersensitivity and the Limulus amoebocyte lysate tests for endotoxin activity

Abstract

The histamine hypersensitivity test and the Limulus amoebocyte lysate test were compared for their effectiveness to quantitate endotoxin activity. The two tests compared favorably in all the trials, except with a sample of endotoxin from Brucella abortus that gave a positive Limulus amoebocyte lysate test at a concentration of 0.001 microgram, while failing to sensitize mice to histamine at a dose of 16 microgram per mouse. The Limulus amoebocyte lysate test was more sensitive than the histamine hypersensitivity test.