[Edema of the paws of white mice--test for assessing the activity of E. coli enterotoxins].

The authors studied the paw edema test in mice for detection of the E. coli (strain P-99) enterotoxins activity. This test proved to be simple, sensitive and reproducible; it permitted to determine the activity of thermostable and thermolabile enterotoxins and endotoxin; the mentioned test was particularly useful in testing various preparations of enterotoxins obtained during their extraction and purification.