Further studies on experimental ocular trichomoniasis—The role of injury to the lens in the production of infection☆

Abstract Within 2 hours after injection of cultures of T. vaginalis into the anterior chamber of the eyes of rabbits the parasite cannot be demonstrated by culture. The mode of disappearance has not been explained. When cultures of T. vaginalis were injected into the anterior chamber of the eyes of rabbits by a method that avoided injuring the lens, no infection and no acute inflammatory reaction developed. When, however, the lens was injured either accidentally or deliberately, infection generally occurred. T. vaginalis grows well when injected into the vitreous body. The organisms do not spread from the vitreous body to other tissues.