Ultrastructural changes in the brain of mice given Clostridium perfringens type D epsilon toxin.

Mice were given lethal and sublethal doses of Clostridium perfringens Type D epsilon toxin and the early morphological changes in perfusion-fixed intoxicated brains were examined from 30 min to 6 h post-inoculation. The initial ultrastructural finding was swelling of astrocytes, especially the perivascular extensions of these cells. Astrocytes in the cerebellum appeared to be particularly sensitive to this toxin. These changes were quickly followed by evidence of severe endothelial damage, with the endothelial cytoplasm becoming attenuated, vacuolated and very electron-dense. A pathogenetic sequence of events leading to malacia, derived from ultrastructural observations, is proposed.