Examination of various cell culture techniques for co-incubation of virulent Treponema pallidum (Nichols I strain) under anaerobic conditions.

Treponema pallidum (Nichols virulent) was incubated with and without cells in cell culture medium reduced to -275 mV Ecal, pH 7.3, under deoxygenated conditions. Five to ten percent of the treponemes attached to cells and remained motile for at least 120 h in cell-treponeme systems of co-incubation. Virulent treponemes could be detected after 120 to 144 h in the supernatant fluids of cell-treponeme co-incubation cultures and in cell-free tubes containing medium harvested from aerobically cultivated mammalian cells. Medium supplemented with ox serum ultrafiltrate, pyruvate, and sodium thioglycolate and gas mixtures containing H2 and CO2 enhanced treponemal survival. Increases in treponemal numbers were observed using dark-field microscopy but were not substantiated using the rabbit lesion test. Continuous passage of the treponeme was not achieved in vitro.