Prevalence of transformation zone Chlamydia trachomatis DNA and serum antibodies in Tanzanian gynaecological in-patients.

Chlamydia trachomatis DNA was detected in cervical transformation zone swabs of gynaecological in-patients from Tanzania by two different polymerase chain reactions (PCR), one targetting the endogenous Chlamydia trachomatis plasmid (pCTT1) and the other a chlamydia genus specific rRNA gene. In only 7/131 (5.3%) cervical samples specific amplification products were obtained, in 6 cases with both PCRs, and in one with the plasmid-PCR alone. A 255 nt sequence was determined from the two plasmid-PCR fragments and revealed only one mismatch against the prototype sequence. Antibodies against genus specific chlamydia antigens were detectable by indirect immunofluorescence with titres > or = 1:256 in 29.0% (38/131) of all patients and in 50.0% (11/22) of patients with pelvic inflammatory disease (P = 0.17). No statistically significant association of either chlamydia antibodies or chlamydial DNA with any clinical condition was observable.