[Interactions between Neisseria meningitidis and cell cultures (data of cytomorphologic studies)].

The present work shows that the cytopathogenic action of N. meningitidis on continuous human amniotic epithelial cell culture FL begins from their active adhesion and subsequent invasion. The degree of the manifestation of the cytopathic effect depends on the capacity of the infective agent for adhesion and invasion and on its biological properties, as well as on the initial state of the cells. The infection of the cells is accompanied by disturbances in their mitotic activity together with the lesions of their chromosomal apparatus. The cells die either in the state of degenerative mitosis, or as the result of the rupture of the cytoplasm in massively invaded cells. The response of the cells to the invasion of faintly cytopathogenic and noncytopathogenic strains takes the form of nonprofessional phagocytosis.