Cytopathogenicity of cytomegalovirus to human ecto- and endocervical epithelial cells in vitro.

The effect of cytomegalovirus on cell cultures initiated from human uterine endo- and ectocervix was studied. Pure epithelial cultures were obtained which differed in morphology depending on the source. The ectocervical cells grew in mosaic-like regular epithelial patterns, whereas endocervical cultures had a poorer intercellular cohesion, irregular polygonal cell form and curved cytoplasmic processes. Occasional fibroblastic colonies grew in three out of 32 ectocervical cultures and in none of the endocervical cultures. In the latter no cells with fibroblast-specific surface antigens could be seen. Ectocervical cells were resistant to cytomegalovirus infection; only in three out of 20 cultures could individual altered cells be detected. In contrast, endocervical cultures supported the growth of cytomegalovirus and at best 30 per cent of the explanted colonies showed cytologic alterations as well as virus-specific immunofluorescence. The various types of altered cells are described and it si concluded that endocervical epithelial cells may be the site of replication of human cytomegalovirus so commonly found in cervical secretions.