Cooper M D, Jeffery C
Scan Electron Microsc. 1985(Pt 3):1183-90.
Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Chlamydia trachomatis are the common bacteria isolated from bacterial cervicitis and are the leading etiological agents for pelvic inflammatory disease. Neisseria gonorrhoeae cause infection of the mucosa of fallopian tubes in organ culture by attaching to microvilli of nonciliated cells, phagocytosis by these cells, transport across and exocytosis from the epithelial cells. In contrast the Chlamydia attach to the epithelial surface without apparent ligand binding and are taken into the cytoplasm of the epithelial cell. Exocytosis of Chlamydia is into the tubal lumen and not into the subepithelial spaces. The ciliated epithelial cells of the fallopian tube are damaged by a gonococcal toxin but chlamydia do not exhibit such activity. These observations suggest that the mechanism of attachment to and invasion of the mucosal epithelium by gonococci and chlamydia are quite different and their potential for disease production occurs by different methods.
淋病奈瑟菌和沙眼衣原体是从细菌性宫颈炎中分离出的常见细菌，也是盆腔炎性疾病的主要病原体。淋病奈瑟菌通过附着于非纤毛细胞的微绒毛、被这些细胞吞噬、穿过上皮细胞并从上皮细胞中胞吐，从而在器官培养中引起输卵管黏膜感染。相比之下，衣原体附着于上皮表面，无明显配体结合，然后被摄入上皮细胞的细胞质中。衣原体的胞吐作用发生在输卵管腔内，而非上皮下间隙。输卵管的纤毛上皮细胞会被淋球菌毒素破坏，但衣原体不表现出这种活性。这些观察结果表明，淋球菌和衣原体附着并侵入黏膜上皮的机制有很大不同，它们引发疾病的潜力也通过不同方式产生。
