Experimental infection of the upper genital tract of female grivet monkeys with Mycoplasma fermentans.

Mycoplasma fermentans inoculated directly into the uterine tubes of female grivet monkeys produced a self-limiting acute salpingitis and parametritis. The inflammation was accompanied by a significant rise in titre of specific indirect haemagglutinating antibodies. Inoculation of M. fermentans into the uterine cavity through the cervical canal without dilatation of the cervix produced practically no signs of inflammation and no antibody response. However, when the intrauterine inoculation of mycoplasmas was followed by currettage of the endometrium, in animals whose uterine tubes had been closed by ligatures, pronounced upper genital-tract inflammation developed, together with a significant antibody response.