[Cytological study of a continuous swine embryonic kidney cell line with a persistent Toxoplasma infection]. / Tsitologicheskoe izuchenie perevivaemoi linii émbrionalnykh pochechnykh kletok svin'i pri persistirovanii v nikh toksoplazm

Invasion of the PEK cell culture by toxoplasma did not cause any sharp disruption of the vital activity of the cells and failed to lead to their rapid degeneration. The observed changes in the morphology of the host cells were apparently chiefly the result of a purely mechanical pressure of the vacuoles on the nucleus and the cytoplasm, although the extreme forms of disturbances of the cell morphology were possibly associated with their greater injury. No complete "selfpurification" of the cells apparently occurred, since despite the marked reduction in the number of parasites a possibility of reinfection with toxoplasma of the culture at the later periods after the infection could not be excluded.