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Infection and Immunity, December 2005, p. 8317-8321, Vol. 73, No. 12
0019-9567/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/IAI.73.12.8317-8321.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Specific-Pathogen-Free Pigs as an Animal Model for Studying Chlamydia trachomatis Genital Infection

Department of Molecular Biotechnology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium,¹ Department of Pathology, Bacteriology, and Poultry Disease, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium,² Laboratory of Immunogenetics, VU University Medical Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands,³ Department of Virology, Parasitology, and Immunology, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium⁴

Received 22 October 2004/ Returned for modification 16 December 2004/ Accepted 16 August 2005

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate pigs as a large-animal model for female genital infection with two Chlamydia trachomatis human serovar E strains. Sixteen-week-old specific-pathogen-free female pigs (gilts) were intravaginally infected with the trachoma type E reference strain Bour or the urogenital serovar E strain 468. Several conclusions can be drawn from our findings on the pathogenicity of a primary C. trachomatis genital infection in gilts. First of all, we demonstrated that the serovar E strains Bour and 468 could ascend in the genital tract of gilts. The serovar E strains could replicate in the superficial columnar cervical epithelium and in the superficial epithelial layer of the uterus, which are known to be the specific target sites for a C. trachomatis genital infection in women. Second, inflammation and pathology occurred at the replication sites. Third, the organisms could trigger a humoral immune response, as demonstrated by the presence of immunoglobulin M (IgM), IgG, and IgA in both serum and genital secretion samples. Our findings imply that the pig model might be useful for studying the pathology, pathogenesis, and immune response to a C. trachomatis infection of the genital system.

Editor: J. F. Urban, Jr.