Chlamydial eye infections: Current perspectives

Abstract

Chlamydia trachomatis, an obligate intraocular bacteria causing trachoma, adult and neonatal inclusion conjunctivitis, was the leading cause of blindness in the last century worldwide. Improvement in socioeconomic and living conditions, availability of antibiotics, and introduction of National Trachoma Control Programmes reduced the prevalence in developed countries, but it persisted in resource-poor settings of Africa and Asia, including India. In 2016, as per the WHO report, trachoma is restricted to 42 countries, causing blindness/visual impairment in ~1.9 million people. India is one of the five countries with nearly half of total active trachoma patients. Introduction of Global Elimination of Trachoma 2020 program by the WHO, using SAFE strategy (surgery for trachomatous trichiasis; Antibiotics for C. trachomatis; Facial cleanliness; and environmental improvement) greatly reduced the prevalence, but trachoma still persists in India. Global increase in the reproductive tract infection by C. trachomatis urogenital serotypes (D-K) has led to concurrent increase in C. trachomatis eye infections. Therefore, kerato eye infections due to chlamydial infections continue to be seen in hospitals. Over the years, there have been advances in laboratory diagnostics, in understanding the pathogenesis, tissue tropism, C. trachomatis genomics, and treatment modalities. Due attention and research is still needed for the study of C. trachomatis eye infections.

Virulence Factors of Bacteria Related to Ocular Infections in Non Immunocompromised Patients: Review Article

“…The causative agents of trachoma are serovars A-K. Endemic trachoma is caused by serotypes A, B, Ba, and C. The culprit for neonatal conjunctivitis and adult inclusion conjunctivitis are C. trachomatis serotype D-K [31]. The inoculation of the bacterium triggers an outburst of inflammatory response in the conjunctiva.…”

“…This is due to the infiltration of neutrophils, lymphocytes, macrophages, plasma cells, eosinophils, and T cells. The result of the release of cytokines and interferon is the replacement of the loose Type I stromal collagen of the area by compact Type V collagen and leads to trachomatous scarring of conjunctiva and severe vision impairment [31].…”

“…Staphylococcus aureus, members of the Genus Streptococci, Corynebacterium (Non-diphtheriae) Species and Bacillus Species among Gram positive bacteria have evolved an arsenal that triggers inflammatory response and tissue damage [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20]. Ocular infections due to Gram negative bacteria like Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Chlamydia trachomatis, and Bartonella Species are still a challenge to deal with and to avoid their devastating eyesight impairment [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37]. The purpose of this review was to gather established and resent knowledge of the virulence factors of these bacteria, and to describe their mechanisms of ocular invasion and damage.…”

Antibiotics for treating urogenital Chlamydia trachomatis infection in men and non-pregnant women

“…This infection is sexually transmitted almost exclusively, although there are reported cases of vertical infection during labour that can lead to newborn conjunctivitis (Witkin 2002). CT is also the cause of trachoma, which is the main cause of blindness around the world (Satpathy 2017). Although CT infections are o en asymptomatic, in non-pregnant women the most common clinical manifestations are vaginal discharge, vaginal bleeding, dysuria, friable cervix, pelvic pain, di icult or painful sexual intercourse, and reactive arthritis (Angel-Müller 2012; Rodriguez 2013).…”

Resveratrol Inhibits Propagation ofChlamydia trachomatisin McCoy Cells

“…In the present paper we report that RESV has a significant inhibitory effect on C. trachomatis propagation in McCoy cells. C. trachomatis is the most common sexually transmitted bacterial pathogen causing a wide range of urogenital diseases (urethritis, endocervicitis, salpingitis, endometritis, and inflammatory pelvic disease) as well as trachoma and pulmonary infections [ 10 – 12 ]. The search for new antichlamydial agents has become especially important due to the global increase in antibiotic-resistant chlamydial infections [ 10 , 13 ].…”