Chlamydia Infections and the Microbiota
Simon Graspeunter, Jan Rupp, Peter Timms and Bonnie Quigley
from: Chlamydia Biology: From Genome to Disease (Edited by: Ming Tan, Johannes H. Hegemann and Christine Sütterlin). Caister Academic Press, U.K. (2020) Pages: 385-402.
Abstract
The microbiota has become intensively studied in many human diseases. In this chapter, we highlight recent research about the human microbiota and its association with chlamydial infections. We introduce the vaginal microbiota in general, focusing on the microbiota composition with regard to genital Chlamydia trachomatis infection and provide current concepts about the exclusion of C. trachomatis by the most important members of the vaginal microbiota, the lactobacilli. We further provide evidence about how particular anaerobic members of the microbiota create a microenvironment supporting ongoing infection with C. trachomatis. The potential role of the microbiota in upper genital tract infections with C. trachomatis is further discussed. The limited data that are available for non-genital chlamydial infections, in particular C. trachomatis infection in the eye and C. pneumoniae infection in the lung, are also reviewed. This chapter finally discusses the recent advances in microbiota research linked to animal chlamydial diseases and provides future directions of microbiota research in chlamydial diseases read more ...
