On the cultivation of Trypanosoma cruzi in tissue cultures of the spinal and sympathetic ganglion from the chick embryo.

Trypanosoma cruzi was cultured in spinal and sympathetic ganglion cells of chick embryos. The "Y" and the "CL" strains were used for comparison, showing no differences in their tropism for the different cell types of the ganglion cultures. Nerve cells as well as satellite and Schwann cells served as host for the parasite's intracellular cycle. No toxic effect on the nerve cells was observed in heavily infected cultures. The destruction of the nerve cells is due to the multiplication of the parasites in the cell's cytoplasm. Its structure in the non parasitized nerve cells, even in direct contact with parasites, looks normal under the optical microscope and also shows no alteration in its ultrastructure.