Female Infertility Associated to Chlamydia trachomatis Infection

Abstract

Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) is the most common agent of bacterial sexually transmitted infections, both in developed and developing countries. It clearly constitutes a major burden on public health. Screening programs and current research are mainly focused on decreasing the high incidence of chlamydial infections as well as their associated morbidity. The greater clinical impact of CT infections occurs in women of reproductive age. Acute CT infections are often associated to urethritis, mucopurulent cervicitis, endometritis, salpingitis, and pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). A vast proportion of CT infections are likely underestimated because of their asymptomatic clinical course. This leads to repeat and chronic infections, which have deleterious impact on the female reproductive health. Among the complications of the CT chronic infections are PID, ectopic pregnancy, preterm birth, tubal obstruction and female infertility, which are of great interest in the reproduction field.

Akt/AS160 Signaling Pathway Inhibition Impairs Infection by Decreasing Rab14-Controlled Sphingolipids Delivery to Chlamydial Inclusions

“…Most of the cases are asymptomatic, which lead to undiagnosed and untreated infections. Consequently, a chronic course is the common feature underlying inflammation and scarring responsible for undesirable complications such as tubal obstruction, ectopic pregnancy and infertility among young women (Luján et al, 2016; Tsevat et al, 2017).…”

Evaluation of three formulations based on Polymorphic membrane protein D in mice infected with Chlamydia trachomatis

“…Chlamydia trachomatis (Ct) is a bacterium that produces acute and chronic diseases with a significant impact on public health (1,2). Chlamydial disease pathogenesis is considered to be mainly immune-mediated, with exacerbated mucosal inflammatory reactions.…”

“…This spread causes tissue deterioration and scarring, precipitating a spectrum of complications, including infertility in women (3). On the other hand, urethritis and inflammation of the accessory glands are the more common complications in men (1). In the year 2012, the World Health Organization (WHO) conducted an estimation, revealing staggering 131 million incidents of newly emerging chlamydial infections within the global population of adults and adolescents, specifically those aged between 15 and 49 years (4).…”

Heterologous prime-boost vaccination based on Polymorphic protein D protects against intravaginal Chlamydia trachomatis infection in mice

“…Chronic chlamydial infection may cause severe complications in the woman’s upper reproductive tract, including pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), ectopic pregnancy, endometritis, and infertility 3 . In the male genitourinary tract, Ct infections generate urethritis and inflammation of the accessory glands, which may impair male fertility 4 . Consequently, it is necessary to develop a vaccine to prevent the spreading of Ct infections 5 .…”