Lipopolysaccharide Purified from Salmonella typhi Sensitizes Human Red Blood Cells at Hemagglutinin concentration, leading to complete Hemolysis upon the addition of Jacalin- a lectin from Jackfruit

Abstract

Lipopolysaccharides consist of a hydrophilic-polysaccharide region and a hydrophobic lipid compound known as lipid A. LPS has been reported to cause concentration-dependent agglutination of human RBCs. In this study, the HAP-Hot Aqueous-Phenol Extraction method was employed to purify LPS. The effects of LPS were shown to be concentration-dependent on human RBCs: at higher concentrations, LPS resulted in complete lysis of human RBCs, while at lower concentrations, LPS caused hemagglutination. Similar results were observed with Salmonella typhi, which induced hemolysis, but upon dilution, hemagglutination was observed. The addition of the Jacalin glycoprotein (a dietary lectin) to the LPS or to the culture sensitized at the hemagglutination concentration led to complete lysis of the human RBCs. This observation opens up a new avenue for investigating the mechanisms involved and may be utilized for the diagnosis of this Gram-negative bacterium.