1995 Volume 58 Issue 3 Pages 232-244
We studied the ultrastructure of bacteria in host cells to understand the appearance of oral infectious diseases using the LUZEX-FS image processor. Electron microscopic samples were taken of pus from patients with abscesses. Gram positive and negative bacteria were detected in almost all the abscesses used after anaerobic culture and electron microscopic observation. The area-ratio of bacteria to phagosomes was 33.0% for Gram negative, and 43.8% for Gram positive bacteria. A bacterial capsule was often observed on the surface of both Gram negative and Gram positive bacteria. The area-ratio of the capsule to bacteria was 33.0% for Gram negative and 26.7% for Gram positive bacteria. Vesicles originating from the outer membrane of Gram negative bacteria were about 26.0±3.2nm in diameter and had an area of 541.0±133.4nm2. The total lysosome area was about 20.5% of the host cell cross sectional area, while this area was 21.1% for the phagosome.
We confirmed that the degree of resistant and pathogenic factors could be expressed quantitatively using the digital image processor.
