Comparison of different lots of endotoxin and evaluation of in vivo potency over time in the experimental human endotoxemia model

The experimental human endotoxemia model is used to study the systemic inflammatory response in vivo. The previously used lot of endotoxin, which was used for over a decade, is no longer approved for human use and a new Good Manufacturing Practices-grade batch has become available. We compared the inflammatory response induced by either bolus or continuous administration of either the previously used lot #1188844 or new lots of endotoxin (#94332B1 and #94332B4). Compared with lot #1188844, bolus administration of lot #94332B1 induced a more pronounced systemic inflammatory response including higher plasma levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines and more pronounced clinical signs of inflammation. In contrast, continuous infusion of lot #94332B4 resulted in a slightly less pronounced inflammatory response compared with lot #1188844. Furthermore, we evaluated whether lot #1188844 displayed in vivo potency loss by reviewing inflammatory parameters obtained from 17 endotoxemia studies performed in our centre between 2007 and 2016. Despite inter-study variability in endotoxemia-induced effects on temperature, heart rate, symptoms, and leukocyte counts, the magnitude of these effects did not decrease over time. In conclusion, although all lots of endotoxin induce a pronounced inflammatory response, the magnitude differs between lots. We observed no potency loss of endotoxin over time.