Use of a Commercial Assay for Detecting the 60 kDa Chlamydial Heat Shock Protein in a Range of Patient Groups

Comparison of five commercial serological tests for the detection of anti-Chlamydia trachomatis antibodies

“…These ELISA generally use recombinant peptides of the major outer membrane protein (MOMP) or the 60-kDa chlamydial heat shock protein (cHSP60). A number of studies have demonstrated strong correlations between the presence of anti-MOMP antibodies [17][18][19][20][21] or cHSP60 [22][23][24] and the severity of genital C. trachomatis disease, PID, infertility and tubal pathology.…”

Unveiling New Molecular Factors Useful for Detection of Pelvic Inflammatory Disease due toChlamydia trachomatisInfection

“…Band A, reactive in 38% of C. trachomatis -infected samples, was identified as two possible candidate proteins: CT147 (conserved hypothetical protein: 162.1 kDa) and CT314 (DNA-directed RNA polymerase beta chain: 154.9 kDa). Only CT147 has previously been shown to elicit a humoral response as expected from the protein's localization to the inclusion membrane of the elementary body (EB) [26]. CT314 functions as a transcriptional regulator and would not be expected to be presented to the host immune system at any stage during the chlamydial developmental cycle or infection process.…”

Identification of novel markers for uncomplicated lower genital tract infections and upper genital tract pathology due to Chlamydia trachomatis

“…Higher anti-cHSP60 antibody responses in women with tubal pathology have been demonstrated compared to women without tubal pathology. 14 However, Gazzard et al 4 showed a reduction of cHSP60 reactivity in the PID/tubal damage group (20%) compared to patients with uncomplicated infection (28%). In our study, anti-cHSP60 antibodies were not detected in women infected less than 4 months (group I), contrary to expectations.…”

“…Serological assays aim to discrimi-nate the various disease stages of C. trachomatis infection through identification of key antigens, however their efficacy is impeded due to cross-reactivity between chlamydial species, 3 and the subsequent antibody response against the target antigen is not restricted to patients with a specific stage of infection or pathology. 4 Consequently, several enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) have been developed that incorporate recombinant C. trachomatis antigens to improve species specificity. The Labsystems major outer membrane protein (MOMP) and Medac lipopolysaccharide (LPS) tests have the ability to diagnose C. trachomatis infection but lack the ability to identify the infection or disease status, i.e., LGT infection or UGT pathology.…”

“…Studies evaluating the diagnostic potential of the Medac cHSP60 ELISA test have demonstrated conflicting results, and thus the ability of the cHSP60-based assay to distinguish various C. trachomatis disease stages may be limited. 4,14 Given the inability of current assays to reliably differentiate between uncomplicated LGT infection and UGT pathology, we undertook a serological approach to investigate novel C. trachomatis antigens that conferred increased power of discriminating between these disease states. Samples obtained from seven patient groups with various histories of chlamydial infection (LGT recent, previous or recurrent infection, and those with UGT pathology/ disease sequelae with evidence of chlamydial involvement), were screened using standard Western blotting techniques, to identify differential reactive antigens.…”