Ringer's solution with lactate pH 8.4 is therapeutically useless in treating endotoxin poisoning (see Table 15). Actually, loading the animals with the Ringer's solution with lactate solution, six hours before the endotoxin was given, increased the lethality of endotoxin.
However, note the effect of an agent, nicotinamide, that has been shown not to affect the mortality from hemorrhagic, burn, or crush shock, upon the lethality of endotoxin.
Adult Sprague Dawley rats (weight 150-300 gm) were anesthetized lightly with ether. Endotoxin (Bacto-Lipopolysaccharide Escherichia coli 0111:B4) (2 mg/ml of saline) was injected into a tail vein of the rats in varying amounts until an approximate median lethal dose was established (10 mg/kg, body weight). Thirty-six rats were given Locke's solution intraperitoneally in volumes equal to 20% of body weight. Endotoxin (10 mg/kg, body weight) was injected intravenously immediately after the intraperitoneal loading of the saline into 21 rats and six hours after