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Infection and Immunity, July 2000, p. 4200-4206, Vol. 68, No. 7
0019-9567/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Cytopathogenic Effect of Trichomonas vaginalis on Human Vaginal Epithelial Cells Cultured In Vitro

R. O. Gilbert,1,* G. Elia,2 D. H. Beach,3 Suzanne Klaessig,4 and B. N. Singh5

Department of Clinical Sciences1 and Department of Biomedical Sciences,4 College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853-6401, and Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology,2 Department of Microbiology and Immunology,3 and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology,5 SUNY Health Science Center, Syracuse, New York 13210

Received 14 September 1999/Returned for modification 1 February 2000/Accepted 23 April 2000

In this study we established human vaginal epithelial cells (hVECs) in culture and evaluated their interaction with Trichomonas vaginalis parasites to complement previous studies using other cell types. Primary cultures of hVECs were established. Contaminating fibroblasts were separated from epithelial cells by differential trypsinization. Specific antibody staining revealed that over 92% of cells in hVEC monolayers were epithelial cells. T. vaginalis adhered to hVECs and produced severe cytotoxic effects resulting in obliteration of the monolayer within 24 h. Adherence and cytotoxicity were not observed when T. vaginalis was exposed to human vaginal fibroblasts or bovine vaginal epithelial cells. Likewise, the bovine parasite Tritrichomonas foetus had no cytotoxic effects on hVECs. We concluded that the interaction between T. vaginalis and hVECs is both cell specific (limited to epithelial cells and not vaginal fibroblasts) and species specific (limited to human vaginal cells and not bovine cells). Pretreatment of T. vaginalis with metronidazole or periodate abolished the adhesion of parasites to cell monolayers and the cytotoxic effect, suggesting involvement of carbohydrate-containing molecules in these processes. Different clinical isolates of T. vaginalis caused damage to cultured cells at different rates. Parasites separated from the vaginal cell monolayer by a permeable membrane did not produce a cytopathic effect, suggesting contact-dependent cytotoxicity.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853-6401. Phone: (607) 253-3472. Fax: (607) 253-3440. E-mail: rog1{at}cornell.edu.

Infection and Immunity, July 2000, p. 4200-4206, Vol. 68, No. 7
0019-9567/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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