Abstract
Intranuclear inclusions like those caused by herpes and other viruses are frequently discovered when tissues are carefully examined. Evidence that their production is the result of the action of any particular virus is often lacking. It has seemed desirable, therefore, to examine a large series of animals to determine the approximate distribution of such inclusions. We have found intranuclear inclusions to be constantly present in the salivary glands of 12 moles collected near St. Louis. These have been compared with the intranuclear inclusions in the salivary glands of guinea pigs and of humans, and with others recently reported in the same location in rats by Thompson. This comparison has been facilitated by the use of preparations of the human salivary glands kindly sent to Dr. E. V. Cowdry by Dr. S. B. Wolbach, and of rats by Dr. Juanita Thompson. The intranuclear inclusions in the moles resemble them in several particulars. The cells involved are greatly hypertro-phied, so much so that they may easily be identified at comparatively low magnifications. The intranuclear inclusions themselves are conspicuous objects which stain with basic as well as with acid dyes and are separated from the surrounding nuclear membranes by distinct halos. There was but slight evidence of pathologic change in the tissue near the inclusions, and the moles appeared to be normal, exhibiting no symptoms attributable to virus action. Many attempts were made, by injecting the salivary glands of the moles into laboratory animals, to isolate a virus which might be responsible for the production of inclusions, but without success.
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