endotoxin
nounEtymology From endo- + toxin.
1
Any toxin secreted by a microorganism and released into the surrounding environment only when it dies.
- It may resemble the factor 5 in Salmonella, a heat-labile determinant on the endotoxin molecule which, because of its superficial location, blocks the agglutination reaction of the deeper heat-stable O antigens in the same way as do the Vi and K antigens.1966, Karina Dzintars Burda, A Study of Heat-labile Superficial Somatic Antigen of Vibrio Fetus, page 41:
- Derived terms
- antiendotoxin, endotoxinemia