Early Colonization of the Upper Genital Tract by Chlamydia muridarum Is Associated with Enhanced Inflammation Later in Infection [Host Response and Inflammation]

In this study, we investigated whether the route of infection plays a role in the downstream immune responses to C. muridarum infection. We found that transcervical infection with C. muridarum results in higher bacterial burdens in the upper genital tract at earlier time points, correlating with levels of innate immune cells. When bacterial burdens were equivalent in intravaginally and transcervically infected mice at later time points, we observed substantially higher levels of adaptive immune cells in transcervically infected mice. Our data suggest that different routes of infection with the same organism can elicit different immune responses in the same tissue.
Source: Infection and Immunity - Category: Infectious Diseases Authors: Tags: Host Response and Inflammation Source Type: research