[Morphologic demonstration of adsorption of Sonne shigellae onto intestinal epithelium]

Electron-microscopy studies of the process of absorption of Shigella sonnei on the epithelium of the intestine villi of Syrian hamstes were carried out. In the study there were used 20 animals and 8 stains of Shigellae isolated from patients with acute dysentery. It was shown that in inoculating into an isolated loop of the intestine adhesion of Shigellae to the surface of border cells was accompanied by rearrangement of glycocalyx with subsequent destruction of microvilli in the zone of adsorption. Simultaneously, lysis of adsorbed bacteria occurred. An assumption is put forward that penetration of Shigellae into the epithelium is a multistaged process which is realised in the phase of adsorption not by one bacterium but by the whole pepulation with the help of soluable substances producing a toxic effect.