[Electron microscopic study of the respiratory organs in experimental respiratory mycoplasmosis].

Comparative pathology of respiratory M. pneumoniae infection in rats, rabbits, and monkeys was studied. The time course of pathological processes in the lungs was investigated by light and immunoluminescent microscopy. Electron microscopy showed M. pneumoniae to be fixed on the surface of the epithelium of the upper respiratory tract; mycoplasmal penetration into a alveolocytes and macrophages, the development of degenerative changes, and death of the affected cells were followed. Multiplication of mycoplasmas in the septal stroma leading to alternative lesions of the endothelium of capillaries and other aerohematic barrier structures was proved. The genesis of these processes is discussed.