Resistance of ovine, caprine and bovine endothelial cells to Clostridium perfringens type D epsilon toxin in vitro.

Ovine, caprine and bovine endothelial cells were grown in vitro and challenged with Clostridium perfringens type D epsilon toxin to compare their susceptibility to this toxin. Madin Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells, which are known to be susceptible to epsilon toxin, were used as a positive control. No morphological alterations were observed in any of the endothelial cell cultures tested, even after challenging with doses as high as 1200 MLD50/ml of epsilon toxin. MDCK cells showed contour rounding and nuclear condensation as early as 30 min after exposure to 100 MLD50/ml of epsilon toxin and after 60 min of exposure to 12.5 MLD50/ml of the same toxin. All the MDCK cells were dead after 3 h of exposure to all concentrations of epsilon toxin. The results indicate that ovine, caprine and bovine endothelial cells are not morphologically responsive to the action of epsilon toxin in vitro.