Comparison of sensitivity of Hep-2 cells with that of HL cells against Chlamydia pneumoniae]

We compared the growth of Chlamydia pneumoniae, reference strain TW183 and an isolate from a Japanese infant, AC43 in HeLa229, HL and Hep-2 cells. The mean number of inclusion-forming units was significantly higher on HL cells than HeLa229 cells, when the cells were not pretreated with DEAE-dextran. When the cells were not pretreated with DEAE-dextran, Hep-2 cells had a higher mean number of inclusion-forming units and a higher yield than other cell lines. Iscove's modified Dulbecco medium enhanced growth of strain TW183 in HeLa229 cells but had a low yield of strain AC43 in Hep-2 cells.