Further studies on the growth of rubella virus in human embryonic organ cultures: preliminary observations on interferon production in these cultures

Abstract

SUMMARYOrgan cultures prepared from 15 different organs obtained from 43 fetuses were consistently found to support the growth of rubella virus, irrespective of the gestational age of the fetus or the strain of rubella virus inoculated. Although rubella virus replicated in fetal lenses, adult lenses did not support the growth of rubella virus. Organs obtained from four fetuses between 8 and 17 weeks gestational age produced similar titres of an inhibitor which had the characteristics of interferon. The use of Trowell T8 medium and incubation in a mixture of 5 % CO2 in oxygen provided the most suitable conditions for the maintenance of most organ cultures. Under these circumstances it was possible to obtain adequate histological preparations from these organs, but light microscopy studies revealed no significant differences in sections of rubella inoculated and control organ cultures.

Rubella cataract in vitro: Sensitive period of the developing human lens.

“…During the following 2 wk the antigens slowly spread over the entire tissues. In histological examination, however, the infected rudiments were indistinguishable from the uninfected controls, which is in accord with the findings of other investigators (27,28) .…”

“…The course of the infection was followed by histological and indirect immunofluorescence methods . Of the rudiments, 12 pairs were in the lens placode or open-lens-vesicle stage, 40 already had closed lens vesicles and in another 27 closed-stage pairs an incision was made in the lens capsule before infection to allow the virus to enter the lens . Uninfected controls differentiated well in vitro for [4][5][6] wk.…”

Rubella virus-associated uveitis at a tertiary care hospital in Germany between 2013 and 2019

“…There are still open questions on the issue of possible reactivation mechanisms of the latent RNA virus RuV. In this regard, it is noteworthy that an early work on the susceptibility of human embryonic organ cultures showed growth of RuV in fetal lenses but not in adult lenses [ 34 ]. This study suggests that the adult lens is not accessible during postnatal RuV infection.…”

Rubella cataract in vitro: Sensitive period of the developing human lens

“…The course of the infection was followed by histological and indirect immunofluorescence methods . Of the rudiments, 12 pairs were in the lens placode or open-lens-vesicle stage, 40 already had closed lens vesicles and in another 27 closed-stage pairs an incision was made in the lens capsule before infection to allow the virus to enter the lens . Uninfected controls differentiated well in vitro for [4][5][6] wk.…”