Abstract
Chlamydia trachomatis (Ct) whole-proteome microarrays were utilized to identify antibody patterns associated with infection; pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), tubal factor infertility, chronic pelvic pain (CPP) and ectopic pregnancy in a subsample of the Netherlands Chlamydia cohort study. Serum pools were analyzed on whole-proteome arrays. The 121 most reactive antigens identified during whole-proteome arrays were selected for further analysis with minimized microarrays that allowed for single sera analysis. From the 232 single sera; 145 (62.5%) serum samples were reactive for at least one antigen. To discriminate between positive and negative serum samples; we created a panel of in total 18 antigens which identified 96% of all microarray positive samples. Antigens CT_858; CT_813 and CT_142 were most reactive. Comparison of antibody reactivity’s among women with and without Ct related sequelae revealed that the reactivity of CT_813 and CT_142 was less common among women with PID compared to women without (29.0% versus 58.6%, p = 0.005 and 25.8% versus 50.6%, p = 0.017 respectively). CT_858 was less common among CPP cases compared to controls (33.3% versus 58.6; p = 0.028). Using a whole-proteome array to select antigens for minimized arrays allows for the identification of novel informative antigens as general infection markers or disease associated antigens
Highlights
Chlamydia trachomatis (Ct) is the most frequently reported bacterial sexually transmitted infectious agent, and caused 127 million incident infections worldwide in 2016 [1]
Ct infections can ascend to the upper genital tract and cause pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), chronic pelvic pain (CPP), tubal factor infertility (TFI) and ectopic pregnancy (EP) [2]
We hypothesize that when persistent upper genital tract infections are established and Ct resides in the form of aberrant reticulate bodies (RBs) inside epithelial cells, Ct as well as its DNA or RNA may no longer be detectable in swabs or other clinical specimens [6]
Summary
Chlamydia trachomatis (Ct) is the most frequently reported bacterial sexually transmitted infectious agent, and caused 127 million incident infections worldwide in 2016 [1]. Ct infections can ascend to the upper genital tract and cause pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), chronic pelvic pain (CPP), tubal factor infertility (TFI) and ectopic pregnancy (EP) [2]. We hypothesize that when persistent upper genital tract infections are established and Ct resides in the form of aberrant reticulate bodies (RBs) inside epithelial cells, Ct as well as its DNA or RNA may no longer be detectable in swabs or other clinical specimens [6]. These infections may still be detectable indirectly through detection of Ct antibodies in serum [6]
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