Microbiology and Immunology

Lister, Joseph WORLD OF MICROBIOLOGY AND IMMUNOLOGY

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infection in humans and other animals. The sugar chains of

smooth LPS can overlay the surface proteins of the outer

membrane, masking the proteins from immune detection.

Also, a bacterium can vary the chemistry of the O-antigen, so

as to make the targeting of antibodies to the bacterial surface

even more difficult. In contrast, the immune response to a

rough strain, where the surface proteins are not camouflaged,

is greater and more consistent.

Lipopolysaccharide is medically important to humans.

When free from the bacterium, LPS is toxic. The portion of the

LPS that is responsible for the toxicity is the core and lipid A

portion (the endotoxin). Endotoxin can produce a fever,

decrease in the number of white blood cells, and damage to

blood vessels resulting in reduced blood pressure. At high

enough endotoxin concentrations, shock can set in and death

can occur.

See alsoBacterial membranes and cell wall; Enterotoxin and

exotoxin; Immunization

LIQUID MEDIA• seeGROWTH AND GROWTH MEDIA

LLister, Joseph ISTER, JOSEPH(1827-1912)

English surgeon

Joseph Lister contributed to a fundamental revolution in sur-

gery with the introduction of his antiseptic method. At the time

Lister was practicing medicine, the mortality rate for certain

injuries and surgeries was extremely high due to infection. The

mortality rate dropped drastically with the use of an antiseptic

method, and when used in conjunction with the anesthetics

that were available at the time, surgeons dared to perform

more complicated surgical procedures.

Lister was born to a well-known Quaker family at

Upton, England. Lister studied medicine at University

College, and received his medical degree in 1852. As a stu-

dent, Lister had the opportunity to be a spectator at the first

surgery performed with general anesthesia, performed by

Robert Liston (1794–1847). He also studied histology under

William Sharpey during which time, Lister wrote an important

paper on inflammationwhere he discussed the susceptibility to

disease of inflamed tissue. Lister was also interested in micro-

scopic anatomy and physiology, perhaps because his father,

Joseph Jackson Lister, was a microscopist. At one point, Lister

wanted to become a surgeon and left England to study at

Edinburgh University with James Syme (1799–1870), who

was well known for his success with performing amputations

and joint excisions. Syme, the first surgeon to adopt antisepsis

and anesthesia, eventually became Lister’s father-in-law.

As a surgeon, Lister was concerned with the high mor-

tality rate of post-amputation patients and the high rate of gan-

grene after surgery. Applying the knowledge that bacteria

caused disease, and drawing from Louis Pasteur’s work that

proved the existence of airborne microorganisms, Lister con-

cluded that airborne bacteria could cause infection in surgical

wounds. Lister read about the affect of carbolic acid used on

sewage bacteria in outhouses, cesspools, and stables in the

nearby town of Carlisle, and developed an antiseptic system

whereby he would spray carbolic acid in the operating room,

and use it to sterilize the surgical instruments and his hands. In

addition, he applied the acid in and around the wound, and

directly on the dressings. Lister first used this method in 1865

while treating a compound fracture of a leg, an injury that

often claimed about 60% of patients, and where amputation of

a limb was usually the only treatment. The procedure was suc-

cessful. Lister published his antiseptic method in The Lancet,

in 1867. There was one problem: carbolic acid, especially the

spray, was harmful to those who came in contact with it.

However, Lister found milder antisepticsand later heat-steril-

ized the surgical instruments. At first, the medical community

did not support Lister’s theory, but eventually his antiseptic

method gained recognition and was adopted as standard pro-

cedure for treating wounds and during surgery. Medics used

Lister’s antiseptic method, which proved to be effective, dur-

ing the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871). In 1877, Lister

became Professor of Surgery at King’s College, London.

Lister received many honors and awards. A dedicated

surgeon, he treated both inflicted and surgical wounds; he

experimented with various antiseptics, developed absorbable

sutures, and introduced a method of draining wounds. He was

the first British surgeon to be elevated to the peerage (became

a member of the House of Lords), and upon his death in 1912,

his remains were interred in Westminster Abbey. When he

died, it was said that Lister had saved more lives than all the

wars in history had claimed.

See alsoBacteria and bacterial infection; History of microbi-

ology; History of public health; Infection and resistance;

Infection control

LOEFFLER, FRIEDRICHAUGUST

JLoeffler, Friedrich August JohannesOHANNES(1852-1915)

German physician

Friedrich August Loeffler was a German physician who turned

his career path to focus on microbiology after becoming an

assistant to Robert Koch. Loeffler is accredited with the dis-

covery of several microorganisms including Loefflerella

mallei,the etiological agent of glanders, Corynebacterium

diphtheriae, the infectious organism of diphtheria; and

Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae,the infectious agent that causes

cholera in swine. In addition to his discoveries of bacteria,

Loeffler determined that foot-and-mouth diseasewas due to an

infectious microorganism smaller than any bacteria (a virus).

Friedrich Loeffler began his studies in medicine at the

University of Würzburg but then transferred to the Army

Medical School shortly before the Franco-Prussian War. In

1872, Loeffler received his medical degree and then worked as

an assistant physician in Berlin at the Charté Hospital.

Beginning in 1876, he worked as a public healthofficer and

military surgeon in Potsdam and Hannover. This lasted until

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