Chlamydia trachomatis Serovar Distribution in Patients with Follicular conjunctivitis in IranZohreh Abedifar1, Fatemeh Fallah1, fahimeh asadiamoli2, Ben Bourrie3, Farahnoosh Doustdar11Department Of Microbiology, Faculty Of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University Of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. 2Department Of Pathology, Faculty Of Medicine, Tehran University Of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran 3Agricultural, Food, And Nutritional Science, University Of Alberta, Edmonton, Ab.
Background: Chlamydia trachomatis infects the urogenital tract (UGT) and eyes. Anatomical tropism is correlated with serovars which are characterized according to the variation in the major outer membrane proteins encoded by ompA gene. The aim of the present study was to determine the distribution of C. trachomatis serovars among patients with follicular conjunctivitis in Iran. Methods: A total of 78 conjunctival specimens from symptomatic adults were studied for the presence of C. trachomatis using PCR. Serovars were determined by Omp1 PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) based analysis.
Results: C. trachomatis was detected in 38 cases (48.71%) of patients with follicular conjunctivitis with higher C. trachomatis prevalence in the younger age groups. 26 cases (33.33%) of these patients had a history of urinary tract infections (UTI). Four distinct serovars were identified in the conjunctiva samples using molecular genotyping. The most prevalent was serovar E, followed by G, I and F. Conclusions: Our serovar distribution indicated that chlamydial follicular conjunctivitis usually has a genital source. Genital serovars could cause eye diseases especially in sexually active adults. On the other hand conjunctivitis might be the only sign of sexually transmitted infection. Therefore genotyping of C. trachomatis in ocular and genital specimens could be beneficial for acquiring moredetailed epidemiological information about the etiology of the disease and monitoring treatment success. Keywords: Chlamydia trachomatis, Follicular conjunctivitis, Serotype, PCR, RFLP.
Zohreh Abedifar, Fatemeh Fallah, fahimeh asadiamoli, Ben Bourrie, Farahnoosh Doustdar. Chlamydia trachomatis Serovar Distribution in Patients with Follicular conjunctivitis in Iran. . 2023; 53(4): 218-221
Corresponding Author: Farahnoosh Doustdar, Iran |
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