Early detection of chlamydial inclusions combining the use of cycloheximide-treated McCoy cells and immunofluorescence staining.

Detection of Chlamydia trachomatis inclusions only 21 h after a specimen reaches the laboratory has been achieved by the combined use of cycloheximide-treated McCoy cells and immunofluorescence staining. Moreover, cells exposed to cycloheximide were more sensitive for detecting chlamydial inclusions than those pretreated by irradiation, since larger numbers of inclusions were found in the former cells. The application of this rapid and sensitive method allows a diagnosis of chlamydial infection to be made before antibiotic therapy is started. In this way, it should enable the treatment of nonspecific genital infections to be placed on a more rational basis.