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Chlamydia trachomatis

 
Dental Dictionary: Chlamydia trachomatis

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An organism that lives in the conjunctivae of the eye and the epithelium of the urethra and cervix and is responsible for conjunctivitis, lymphogranuloma venereum, and trachoma.

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Medical Dictionary: Chlamydia tra·cho·ma·tis
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(trə-kō'mə-tĭs)
n.

A species of Chlamydia that causes trachoma, inclusion conjunctivitis, lymphogranuloma venereum, nonspecific urethritis, and proctitis in humans.

Wikipedia: Chlamydia trachomatis
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Chlamydia trachomatis

C. trachomatis inclusion bodies (brown) in a McCoy cell culture.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Bacteria
Phylum: Chlamydiae
Order: Chlamydiales
Family: Chlamydiaceae
Genus: Chlamydia
Species: C. trachomatis
Binomial name
Chlamydia trachomatis
Busacca, 1935

Chlamydia trachomatis, an obligate intracellular human pathogen, is one of three bacterial species in the genus Chlamydia.[1] C. trachomatis is Gram-indeterminate (i.e. cannot be stained with the Gram stain); structurally the organism is Gram-negative.[2] Identified in 1907, C. trachomatis was the first chlamydial agent discovered in humans.[3]

C. trachomatis includes three human biovars: trachoma (serovars A, B, Ba or C), urethritis (serovars D-K), and lymphogranuloma venereum (LGV, serovars L1, 2 and 3).[4] Many, but not all, C. trachomatis strains have an extrachromosomal plasmid.[5]

Contents

Identification

Chlamydia species are readily identified and distinguished from other chlamydial species using DNA-based tests.

Most strains of C. trachomatis are recognized by monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) to epitopes in the VS4 region of MOMP.[6] However, these mAbs may also cross-react with two other Chlamydia species, C. suis and C. muridarum.

Clinical significance

C. trachomatis is a obligate intracellular pathogen (i.e. the bacterium lives within human cells) and can cause numerous disease states in both men and women.[1] Both sexes can display urethritis, proctitis (rectal disease and bleeding), trachoma, and infertility. The bacterium can cause prostatitis and epididymitis in men. In women, cervicitis, pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), ectopic pregnancy, and acute or chronic pelvic pain are frequent complications. C. trachomatis is also an important neonatal pathogen, where it can lead to infections of the eye (trachoma) and pulmonary complications.

Treatment

C. trachomatis may be treated with any of several antibiotics: azithromycin, erythromycin or doxycycline/tetracycline.[citation needed],cefpodoxim proxetil,amoxicillin

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Ryan KJ, Ray CG (editors) (2004). Sherris Medical Microbiology (4th ed.). McGraw Hill. pp. 463–70. ISBN 0838585299. 
  2. ^ Kenyon College - Dept. of Biology (2006-08-15). "Chlamydia". MicrobeWiki. http://microbewiki.kenyon.edu/index.php/Chlamydia. Retrieved 2008-10-27. 
  3. ^ Budai I (March 2007). "Chlamydia trachomatis: milestones in clinical and microbiological diagnostics in the last hundred years: a review". Acta microbiologica et immunologica Hungarica 54 (1): 5–22. doi:10.1556/AMicr.54.2007.1.2. PMID 17523388. 
  4. ^ Fredlund H, Falk L, Jurstrand M, Unemo M (2004). "Molecular genetic methods for diagnosis and characterisation of Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae: impact on epidemiological surveillance and interventions". APMIS : acta pathologica, microbiologica, et immunologica Scandinavica 112 (11-12): 771–84. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0463.2004.apm11211-1205.x. PMID 15638837. http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/openurl?genre=article&sid=nlm:pubmed&issn=0903-4641&date=2004&volume=112&issue=11-12&spage=771. 
  5. ^ Carlson JH, Whitmire WM, Crane DD, et al. (June 2008). "The Chlamydia trachomatis plasmid is a transcriptional regulator of chromosomal genes and a virulence factor". Infection and immunity 76 (6): 2273–83. doi:10.1128/IAI.00102-08. PMID 18347045. PMC: 2423098. http://iai.asm.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=18347045. 
  6. ^ Ortiz L, Angevine M, Kim SK, Watkins D, DeMars R (2000). "T-cell epitopes in variable segments of Chlamydia trachomatis major outer membrane protein elicit serovar-specific immune responses in infected humans". Infect. Immun. 68 (3): 1719–23. doi:10.1128/IAI.68.3.1719-1723.2000. PMID 10678996. 

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Dental Dictionary. Mosby's Dental Dictionary. Copyright © 2004 by Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
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