1987 Volume 61 Issue 12 Pages 1395-1400
Ultrastructural changes in the endometrium of rabbits with intrauterine infection experimentally induced with Bacteroids fragilis GAI 0558 were studied by electron microscopy.
Two days after inoculation, transmission electron microscopy revealed a disarranged appearance of the endometrial microvilli. Numerous macrophages and polymorphonuclear leukocytes phagocytizing bacteria were observed near the endometrial mucosa. In six or seven days after inoculation the endometrial cells were degenerated and necrotized, and the infecting bacteria were observed among destroyed epitherial cells. In ten days after inoculation, inflammatory changes developed up to the myometrial layer. Through transmission electron microscopic findings revealed no evidence of infecting bacteria in the tissue of the endometrium, fluorescent antibody staining showed presence of the bacteria.
Scanning electron microscopy revealed the infecting bacteria adhering to the endometrial surface. The glycocalyx, a universal surface component of the bacteria, surrounded the bacterial cells and bound them together to form microcolonies and it also mediated bacterial adherence.
