The effect of a Clostridium perfringens 8-6 enterotoxin on viability and macromolecular synthesis in Vero cells

Clostridium perfringens type A 8-6 enterotoxin causes gross morphological damage to Vero cells grown in tissue culture. Damage was observed to occur after only 30 minutes exposure at concentrations as low as 20 ng/ml, and within 60 minutes 95% of the cells had detached. Concentrations as low as 0.01 ng were able to cause detectable inhibition of plating efficiency. The enterotoxin inhibited DNA, RNA and protein synthesis and caused the reversal of glucose transport. Heat inactivated enterotoxin had no effect on cell function or morphology.