1987 Volume 26 Issue 1 Pages 57-63
Biopsy specimens from the uterine cervix were studied electron microscopically in 24 suspected cases of chlamydia infection. Chlamydia-infected cells were examined ultrastructually in two cases.
(1) Cells with chlamydia were detected singly or in groups mainly in superficial and partly in intermediate layers of squamous metaplasia adjacent to the squamo-columnar junction.
(2) Besides squamous metaplasia of columnar origin, chlamydial inclusion bodies were found in several types of columnar cells, including mucous-producing cells of cervical glands.
(3) Chlamydial inclusion bodies were located in the cytoplasma adjacent to the nucleus, were round or slightly irregular in shape and 5-10μm in size, and differed in populations of elementary, intermediate and reticulate bodies according to the phase of infection.
(4) Cellular changes by chlamydia infection were remarkable in nucleus and organella, though inclusion bodies and nuclear oppression were often encounted.
(5) Many intracytoplasmic lumina were noted, requiring morphological differentiation from chlamydia inclusion bodies on a microscopic level.
