In Vitro Cultivation of Microsporidia of Clinical Importance

Although attempts to develop methods for the in vitro cultivation of microsporidia began as early as 1937, the interest in the culture of these organisms was confined mostly to microsporidia that infect insects. The successful cultivation in 1969 of Encephalitozoon cuniculi, a microsporidium of mammalian origin, and the subsequent identification of these organisms as agents of human disease heightened interest in the cultivation of microsporidia. I describe the methodology as well as the cell lines, the culture media, and culture conditions used in the in vitro culture of microsporidia such as Brachiola (Nosema) algerae, Encephalitozoon cuniculi, E. hellem, E. intestinalis, Enterocytozoon bieneusi, Trachipleistophora hominis, and Vittaforma corneae that cause human disease.