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 Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Vanrompay, D.
Right arrow Articles by Cox, E.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Vanrompay, D.
Right arrow Articles by Cox, E.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

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

Daisy Vanrompay,1* Thi Q. T. Hoang,1 Liselotte De Vos,1 Kristel Verminnen,1 Taher Harkinezhad,1 Koen Chiers,2 Servaas A. Morré,3 and Eric Cox4

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.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium. Phone: 32-92645971. Fax: 32-92646219. E-mail: Daisy.Vanrompay{at}ugent.be.

Editor: J. F. Urban, Jr.

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.





Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»