Chlamydia Species - General Characteristics

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Overview

  • Host adapted and non-host adapted species varying in virulence for different hosts
  • Species cause specific diseases in particular hosts
  • Respiratory, enteric, pleural and reproductive diseases in animals and humans
  • Conjunctivitis, arthritis, abortion, urethritis, enteritis, pneumonia, encephalomyelitis
  • Manifestation varies from subclinical to severe systemic infections
  • Intestinal infections often subclinical and persistent
  • Human infections usualy acquired from infected birds, causing psittacosis or ornithosis, causing respiratory infections


Characteristics

  • Obligate intracellular bacteria
  • Gram negative bacteria with outer membrane, LPS, ribosomes, DNA and RNA
  • Peptidoglycan cell wall resistant to lysozyme
  • Only grow in presence of living eukaryotic cells
  • Unable to synthesis ATP therefore require intermediates from host cells
  • Not stained by Gram stain
  • Two morphological forms
    • Elementary body, the infective extracellular form, which is small, metabolically inert and osmotically stable; surrounded by cytoplasmic membrane, outer membrane with LPS, but no peptidoglycan
    • Retiuculate body: larger, metabolically active, osmotically fragile
  • Elementary body survives in the environment for several days


Pathogenesis and pathogenicity

  • Elementary body enters host epithelial cells by receptor-mediated endocytosis
  • Transformation into larger reticulate body within endosome; known as an inclusion
  • Reticulate body divides by binary fission to form many new chlamydia cells
  • Reticulate bodies mature and condense to form elementary bodies
  • Elementary bodies released from dying host cells after about 72 hours to infect other cells
  • Persistent infections can occur if replication delayed by environmental conditions such as presence of interferon gamma
  • Many infections subclinical due to intracellular existence of chlamydia preventing inflammatory reactions
  • Chronic infections may fail to induce an immune response, or may repeatedly stimulate the immune system, causing a delayed hypersensitivity reaction and tissue damage
  • Prolonged faecal shedding of organisms
  • Clinical infections occur in non-natural host species
  • CLinical signs depend on route of infection and degree of exposure

Diagnosis

  • Direct microscopy of smears and tissues e.g. organs from aborted foetuses, liver/spleen from avian cases
  • Kosters (modified Ziehl-Neelsen) stain of placental smears shows small red rods
  • Blue inclusions in cytoplasm of Giemsa-stained cells
  • Methylene blue stain with darkfield microscopy
  • Fluorescent antibody stain
  • Antigen detection kits for diagnosis from swabs
  • ELISA to detect Chlamydophila LPS
  • Isolation in embryonated eggs and McCoy cells as well as animal tissues
  • PCR to detect chlamydial DNA
  • Serological tests: complement fixation, ELISA, indirect immunofluorescence


sheep

  • Chlamydia sp.
    • Sporadic or outbreaks of lamb polyarthritis
    • High morbidity, low mortality
    • Commonly together with conjunctivitis
    • Most recover but may remain lame


cattle

    • Chlamydia sp.
      • Severe disease in young calves
      • High mortality
      • Can be seen in smears of synovial fluid from swollen joints
      • Oedematous and hyperaemic surrounding tissue
      • Possibly due to intrauterine infection