['Critical illness myopathy is a common cause for difficulties in weaning from the respirator and prolonged rehabilitation of patients recovering from sepsis. Several studies have shown that the primary cause of acute generalized muscle weakness is loss of muscle membrane excitability. This study was designed to investigate a potential direct interaction of lipopolysaccharides from Escherichia coli with voltage-gated human skeletal muscle sodium channels (NaV1.4) in vitro.', 'In vitro laboratory investigation.', 'University laboratory.', 'NaV1.4 sodium channel alpha-subunits stably expressed in human embryonic kidney (HEK293) cells.', 'We investigated the effect of lipopolysaccharide on voltage-dependent sodium channel gating by using two distinct modes of application: 1) acute perfusion (pharmacologic lipopolysaccharide concentrations between 5 ng/mL and 50 microg/mL) in order to establish a concentration-effect relationship; and 2) incubation with a clinically relevant concentration of lipopolysaccharide (300 pg/mL).', 'Lipopolysaccharide did not alter the kinetics of sodium current activation or inactivation when depolarizations were started from hyperpolarized holding potentials. However, when either fast or slow inactivation was induced by membrane depolarization before the test pulse, lipopolysaccharide reversibly reduced channel availability during the test pulse at concentrations of > or = 50 ng/mL revealed by a maximum hyperpolarizing shift of -25 mV in the voltage dependence of fast and slow inactivation, respectively. Incubation with a lipopolysaccharide concentration of 300 pg/mL for 1 hr reproduced the effects on slow but not on fast inactivation. After 20 hrs of low-dose lipopolysaccharide, the peak sodium current was significantly reduced.'] Does endotoxin reduce availability of voltage-gated human skeletal muscle sodium channels at depolarized membrane potentials?