IAI FigSearch
Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Perfettini, J.-L.
Right arrow Articles by Ojcius, D. M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Perfettini, J.-L.
Right arrow Articles by Ojcius, D. M.

Infection and Immunity, April 2000, p. 2237-2244, Vol. 68, No. 4
0019-9567/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Effect of Chlamydia trachomatis Infection and Subsequent Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha Secretion on Apoptosis in the Murine Genital Tract

Jean-Luc Perfettini,1 Toni Darville,2 Gabriel Gachelin,3 Philippe Souque,1 Michel Huerre,4 Alice Dautry-Varsat,1 and David M. Ojcius1,*

Unité de Biologie des Interactions Cellulaires, CNRS URA 1960,1 Unité de Biologie Moléculaire du Gène,3 and Unité de Histopathologie,4 Institut Pasteur, 75724 Paris Cedex 15, France, and Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas 722022

Received 8 July 1999/Returned for modification 16 August 1999/Accepted 13 December 1999

The pathology observed during Chlamydia infection is due initially to localized tissue damage caused by the infection itself, followed by deleterious host inflammatory responses that lead to permanent scarring. We have recently reported that the infection by Chlamydia in vitro results in apoptosis of epithelial cells and macrophages and that infected monocytes secrete the proinflammatory cytokine interleukin-1beta . At the same time, proinflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha ) can also trigger apoptosis of susceptible cells. To study the possible relationship between Chlamydia trachomatis infection and apoptosis in vivo, we used the terminal deoxynucleotidyltransferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling technique to determine whether infection may cause apoptosis in the genital tract of mice and, conversely, whether cytokines produced during the inflammatory response may modulate the level of apoptosis. Our results demonstrate that infected cells in the endocervix at day 2 or 7 after infection are sometimes apoptotic, although there was not a statistically significant change in the number of apoptotic cells in the endocervix. However, large clumps of apoptotic infected cells were observed in the lumen, suggesting that apoptotic cells may be shed from the endocervix. Moreover, there was a large increase in the number of apoptotic cells in the uterine horns and oviducts after 2 or 7 days of infection, which was accompanied by obvious signs of upper tract pathology. Interestingly, depletion of TNF-alpha led to a decrease in the level of apoptosis in the uterine horns and oviducts of animals infected for 7 days, suggesting that the inflammatory cytokines may exert part of their pathological effect via apoptosis in infected tissues.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Unité de Biologie des Interactions Cellulaires, CNRS URA 1960, Institut Pasteur, 75724 Paris Cedex 15, France. Phone: (33) 1 40 61 30 64. Fax: (33) 1 40 61 32 38. E-mail: ojcius{at}pasteur.fr.

Infection and Immunity, April 2000, p. 2237-2244, Vol. 68, No. 4
0019-9567/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:



Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
J. Bacteriol. J. Virol. Eukaryot. Cell
Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. Clin. Vaccine Immunol. All ASM Journals

Copyright © 2000 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.