Open AccessScanning Electron Microscopy of the Interaction between Haemophilus influenzae and organ cultures of rat trachea
Author(s) -
Alan P. Johnson,
James Clark,
Michael Osborn
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
journal of medical microbiology/journal of medical microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.91
H-Index - 117
eISSN - 1473-5644
pISSN - 0022-2615
DOI - 10.1099/00222615-16-4-477
Subject(s) - sloughing , haemophilus influenzae , microbiology and biotechnology , organ culture , bacteria , biology , ultrastructure , pasteurellaceae , epithelium , pathology , in vitro , anatomy , medicine , antibiotics , biochemistry , genetics
Organ cultures of rat trachea inoculated with either a type b or a non-capsulated strain of Haemophilus influenzae showed loss of ciliary activity and disruption of the mucosal surface. Examination of tissue pieces by scanning electronmicroscopy showed that mucosal damage was due to the sloughing of epithelial cells. Bacteria associated with the epithelial surface were seen infrequently and this, together with the observation that sloughed cells were usually free of adherent bacteria, indicated that bacterial attachment was not a necessary prerequisite for the production of tissue damage.