Electron microscopic observations of intracytoplasmic inclusions in human and murine leprosy bacilli.
The intracytoplasmic inclusions of Mycobacterium leprae in human lepromata and M. lepraemurium in murine lepromata were studied in ultrathin serial sections at the electron microscopic level. The inclusions were mostly homogeneous and spherical, and did not exist uniformly throughout the bacillary cells. They did not appear to be delimited by membranous structures and apparently had no internal structure. There seemed to be fundamentally little difference between M. leprae and M. lepraemurium in the fine structure of these inclusions. However, the large diffuse inclusions observed in the cells of M. lepraemurium may be a special feature of murine bacilli.
D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D002479:Inclusion Bodies / Q000648:ultrastructure; D007918:Leprosy / Q000473:pathology*; D009115:Muridae; D009166:Mycobacterium leprae / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D009167:Mycobacterium lepraemurium / Q000648:ultrastructure*