Table 5.

Percentage of Mice Positive for EF or LF in Plasma 1 Hour After Intoxination of Mice With LF/EF and PA and LF and EF Quantification^a

	Percentage of Mice Positive for		Plasma
Components Used for the Intoxination	EF	LF	EF (log10 pg/mL)	LF (log10 pg/mL)
LF + PA	NA	100 (4/4)	NA	2.77 ± 0.04 (4)
EF + PA	53 (9/17)	NA	1.31 ± 0.07 (8)	NA
LF + EF + PA	67 (10/15)	100 (4/4)	1.15 ± 0.05 (9)	2.7 ± 0.08 (4)

Abbreviations: EF, edema factor; LF, lethal factor; NA, not applicable; PA, protective antigen; SEM, standard error of the mean.

^aMice were intranasally intoxinated with 400 ng of the factors constituting the toxins of Bacillus anthracis: LF + PA, EF + PA, LF + EF + PA. The percentage of mice positive for LF and/or EF was calculated as the number of mice showing detectable LF and/or EF in their blood 1 hour after challenge. The EF and LF concentrations were assessed through a competitive immunoassay and mass spectrometry, respectively, in the plasma 1 hour after challenge. The EF and LF concentrations were expressed as mean log₁₀ ± SEM pg per mL in the plasma, number of samples (n) in parentheses.