Gastrointestinal Coinfection Promotes Chlamydial Pathogenicity in the Genital Tract
Qi Tian, Zengzi Zhou, Luying Wang, Al-Mutassim Hani Abu-Khdeir, Zhi Huo, Xin Sun, Nu Zhang, Robert S. Schenken, Yufeng Wang, Min Xue, Guangming Zhong
Abstract
Sexually transmitted Chlamydia , which can cause fibrotic pathology in women’s genital tracts, is also frequently detected in the gastrointestinal tract. However, the medical significance of the gastrointestinal Chlamydia remains unclear. A murine Chlamydia readily spreads from the mouse genital tract to the gastrointestinal tract while inducing oviduct fibrotic blockage or hydrosalpinx. We previously proposed a two-hit model in which the mouse gastrointestinal Chlamydia might induce the second hit to promote genital tract pathology, and we are now providing experimental evidence for testing the hypothesis.