In Vitro Cultivation of a New Spirochete From Human Source.

Abstract

A spirochaetal organism in pure culture has been recovered from the pleural effusion of a human case of unresolved lobar pneumonia due to type IV pneumococcus.

The organism morphologically resembles very closely the Spirochete bronchialis of Castellani 1 which has been demonstrated in human pulmonary lesions; however, none of the workers have successfully cultivated it and in practically all of the reported instances of this infection the spirochaete was found in the sputum. Only in cases reported by Mason 2 and Lancereaux 3 were spirochetes found in the pleural effusion and not in the pulmonary secretion. Efforts to cultivate the organism and to induce lesions in lower animals were unsuccessful.

Morphology: This organism which from the classification of Noguchi might be called a spironema is variable in its morphology, even in material fresh from the human body. The length varies from 5 to 15 microns and the width from 0.2 to 0.4 micron. The spirals are not as acute as in Treponema pallida and there is marked irregularity in stained preparations characterized by the presence of deeply stained granules and areas faintly stained. This irregularity may be due to 2 things: a condensation of the chromatin with the appearance of small granules or to a thinning out of the cytoplasm preparatory to transverse division. The curves vary from 2 to 6 in fresh preparations and in cultures as many as 15 or more have been noted in a single spiral. No undulating membrane has been demonstrated in fresh or stained preparation. Whereas each extremity tapers to a point, which also varies in its acuteness, no flagella have been demonstrated. These spiral organisms are very motile, moving forward and turning on the long axis.