Ultrastructure of Cryptococcus neoformans in the cerebrospinal fluid of a patient with cryptococcal meningitis.

The ultrastructure of Cryptococcus neoformans in the cerebrospinal fluid, which was obtained from a patient suffering from systemic lupus erythematosus and cryptococcal meningitis, before treatment and on the 10th and 20th day after the start of treatment was studied. Numerous cryptococci were detected in their cerebrospinal fluid before treatment. However, in most of them their biological activity was low and their organelles were not clear. A few yeasts preserved well their organelles. Such cells showed a tendency to develop vesicular membrane structures (lomasomes) touching the internal part of the cell wall. In the cerebrospinal fluid on the 20th day all of the yeasts were dead, even though numerous yeasts were observed by an India-ink method. At this time no colonies were recovered from the fluid.