Male rodent genital tract infection with Chlamydia muridarum: persistence in the prostate gland that triggers self-immune reactions in genetically susceptible hosts.

MACKERN-OBERTI JP, MOTRICH RD, BRESER ML, CEJAS H, CUFFINI C, MACCIONI M, RIVERO VE

ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC

Año: 2011 vol. 186 p. 1100 - 1100

bstract PURPOSE: We investigated Chlamydia trachomatis infection and its pathogenic consequences in the male rodent genital tract. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Male rats were inoculated in the meatal urethra with Chlamydia muridarum. We sought bacterial DNA at early and late times after inoculation in different parts of the male genital tract. Histological alterations and the immune response against prostate antigens were analyzed. RESULTS: Male rats showed ascending infection with wide dissemination of bacteria in the genital tract at an early time point after inoculation. At later stages bacteria persisted only in some parts of the genital tract and in the prostate gland. C. muridarum was also detected in semen in a high proportion of rats irrespective of an acute or chronic stage of infection. Histological alterations that accompanied C. muridarum were especially observed in the prostate and mainly composed of CD3+ cell infiltration. Positive humoral and cellular responses agai