Chronic idiopathic vitritis. Cytopathogenicity of unusual bacteria for vitreous polymorphonuclear leukocytes

In acute exacerbations of chronic idiopathic vitritis (CIV) non-cultivatable ultrastructurally unusual 0.5-0.7 micron cell walled coccal bacteria (B) are commonly present within phagolysosomes of 3-5% of vitreous polymorphonuclear (PMN) leukocytes. Inoculation of that CIV vitreous into mouse eyelids produces chronic mouse vitritis (CMV) with identical B within CMV PMN leukocyte phagolysosomes. This transmission electron microscopic restudy of all PMN leukocytes in those 8 CIV and 3 CMV specimens demonstrated in all 11 severe cytoskeletal lytic damage associated with pleomorphic 0.1-1.4 micron cell wall deficient B in 1-2% of the cells; both those cell wall deficient and the unusual cell walled B within the same cell in 1-3 cells per specimens; and within the cell walled B complex internal structures resembling the cell wall deficient B. The study results suggest that the morphologically diverse B may be subportions of a single unusual pathogenic B, which parasitizes, undergoes complex morphologic differentiation within, and produces profound cytoskeletal damage to host PMN leukocytes.