Bacterial studies in irreversible hemorrhagic shock.

The studies of Fine and his co-workers suggested that a bacterial factor was a cause of irreversibility of prolonged hemorrhagic shock in experimental animals and that the defense mechanism against this factor could be enhanced by the preliminary administration of certain antibiotics, principally chlortetracycline (Aureomycin). Fine et al. 1 had reported dramatic and interesting data which they interpreted as indicative of a bacterial factor being important in the production of "irreversible" hemorrhagic shock in dogs. Their conclusion was based in part upon the finding that the survival rate in their experiments with a standardized challenge by hemorrhagic shock was significantly increased by the preliminary administration of certain antibiotic agents. Other workers, notably DeBakey, 2 were unable to demonstrate this protection or to demonstrate any significant difference in mortality between the control group and the group treated with antibiotics. The detection of the nature and method of action of bacterial factors