Enzyme immunoassay with antigens produced by recombinant techniques for the detection of IgG and IgA antibodies against Chlamydia trachomatis in serum and plasma

Chlamydia trachomatis is one of the most common causes of sexually trans-mitted diseases (STD) in industrial nations. According to estimations of the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 700 million peo-ple are infected with Chlamydia trachomatis worldwide. The annual incidence is 50 million cases, in Germany approximately 1.15 million.

19 different serotypes of Chlamydia trachomatis are known, causing different ranges of disease. Serotypes A-C cause trachoma, a chronic inflammation of the eye (keratoconjunctivitis), which is the most common cause of prevent-able blindness worldwide (distribution: Africa, Asia, Australia, Oceania). Se-rotypes L1-L3 are prevalent in tropical regions and are sexually transmitted. The clinical picture (lymphogranuloma venereum) shows heavily inflamed genital ulcers with partially purulent swollen lymph nodes. Similarly, sexually transmitted in the northern hemisphere (industrial nations) are the serotypes D-K which may cause sterility or arthritis after infections of the genitals or the joints both in women and in men. Perinatal transmission of the pathogen from the infected mother to the newborn results in the so-called neonatal conjunc-tivitis or neonatal pneumonia.

The primary infection often persists in an uncharacteristic and oligosympto-matic clinical course, thus supporting proliferation and spread of the infection. Since a primary infection apparently does not induce complete immunity, rein-fections are not a rare event. Accordingly, the therapy is often a tedious proc-ess and will only be successful if antibiotics, which reach a high intracellular active ingredient level, are used. According to the course of Chlamydia infec-tion an antibiotic therapy of the respective sexual partner(s) is recommended to avoid reinfections and increase the success of therapy.

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