ABSTRACT
1. Light and electron microscopy have been used to characterize echovirus 19 and herpes simplex type 2 infection of human placenta tissue in vitro. Immunofluorescence, autoradiography and virus adsorption were used to determine virus replication in this system. 2. Placental tissue was permissive to echovirus 19. Trophoblast cells were lysed with liberation of mature virions. However, during the 48-h period of observation, few cells were damaged and the trophoblastic structure was maintained. 3. HSV-2 infection in placental tissue was aborted although trophoblastic cells allowed virus adsorption, penetration and uncoating. A characteristic cytopathic effect was observed in infected trophoblastic cells in spite of the abortive infection
Subject(s)
Humans , Female , Herpes Genitalis/pathology , Echovirus Infections/pathology , Placenta/microbiology , Enterovirus B, Human/isolation & purification , Enterovirus B, Human/physiology , Fluorescent Antibody Technique , Herpesvirus 2, Human/isolation & purification , Herpesvirus 2, Human/physiology , Microscopy, Electron , Placenta/cytology , Pregnancy , Trophoblasts/microbiology , Trophoblasts/ultrastructure , Virus ReplicationABSTRACT
Pulmonary lesions compatible with adenovirus infection were detected by gross and microscopic examination of autopsy tissues children aged from 5 to 34 months. Hepatic lesions indicative of systemic infection were also found in four of the chisldren. The viral etiology was confirmed in three cases by in-situ hibridization, electro-microscopy and immunofluorescence performed in parafin-embedded tissues, and in one case by cell culture isolation of adenovirus type 2 from nasopharyngeal exudate. Routine testing by methods additional to conventional light microscopy would probably have revealed a larger number of adenovirus infections among the 1.103 autopsy records analyzed in this study