Pathway-Wide Genetic Risks in Chlamydial Infections Overlap between Tissue Tropisms: A Genome-Wide Association Scan

Abstract

Chlamydia trachomatis is the most commonly diagnosed bacterial sexually transmitted infection and can lead to tubal factor infertility, a disease characterised by fibrosis of the fallopian tubes. Genetic polymorphisms in molecular pathways involving G protein-coupled receptor signalling, the Akt/PI3K cascade, the mitotic cell cycle, and immune response have been identified in association with the development of trachomatous scarring, an ocular form of chlamydia-related fibrotic pathology. In this case-control study, we performed genome-wide association and pathways-based analysis in a sample of 71 Dutch women who attended an STI clinic who were seropositive for Chlamydia trachomatis antibodies and 169 high-risk Dutch women who sought similar health services but who were seronegative. We identified two regions of within-gene SNP association with Chlamydia trachomatis serological response and found that GPCR signalling and cell cycle pathways were also associated with the trait. These pathway-level associations appear to be common to immunological sequelae of chlamydial infections in both ocular and urogenital tropisms. These pathways may be central mediators of human refractoriness to chlamydial diseases.