[The effect of coccidia of the genus Sarcocystis on the morphofunctional organization of the skeletal musculature in experimentally infected mice. II. The connective tissue elements of the endomysium].

As an extension of the previous communication (Radchenko, et al., 1996), a study was made of the response of connective tissue elements, surrounding the Sarcocystis muris infected muscle fibers. As earlier, the S. muris sarcocysts were examined in mice 1, 2.5, 6, and 10 months after sporocyst feeding. Within the first 2.5 months after infection, marked accumulations of lymphocyte-like cells and collagen fibres are observed in the endomysium, and simultaneously the activity of capillary endothelial cells is seen to enhance due to the appearance of much more micropinocytotic vesicles, compared to the uninfected control. All this may be qualified as the host organism protective reaction to the parasitic infection. 6 and 10 months after infection, not only collagen fibres, but also some other fibrillar structures of the endomysium undergo degradation, the damage of capillary endothelial cells starting from breaking the outer membrane (in 6 months) and terminating in lysing the whole cell (in 10 months). Besides, structural abnormalities were noticed in the axon endings.