Mittal A, Kapur S, Gupta S
Institute of Pathology-ICMR, Safdarjang Hospital Campus, New Delhi, India.
Br J Biomed Sci. 1996 Sep;53(3):214-20.
In order to study host immune responses to Chlamydia trachomatis infection in patients with chlamydial cervicitis, lymphoproliferative responses to purified protein derivative (PPD) and Chlamydia trachomatis antigen (elementary bodies) were studied in 15 patients and 10 normal control subjects. A significant lymphoproliferation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) was obtained with PPD and C. trachomatis antigen (P < 0.001) as compared to unstimulated PBMC showing that antigen-reactive T-cells are present in patients. There was no significant difference in the lymphoproliferation response to C. trachomatis in patients as compared to control subjects suggesting that the cell-mediated immune (CMI) response in peripheral blood is not altered in chlamydial cervicitis. Inhibition of IL-2 production in cervical secretions ranged from 44 to 84% in patients with chlamydial cervicitis while supernatants derived from PBMC stimulated with PPD failed to show inhibition. However, there was no inhibition of IL-2 production in secretion or supernatants stimulated with PPD in control subjects, thereby showing that local cell-mediated immunity is impaired in patients. Significant C. trachomatis specific IgA antibodies, in cervical secretions, were present in only three of 15 patients. C. trachomatis specific IgG, IgM and IgA were detected in the serum of most patients, suggesting that serum antibodies do not confer immunity at the local site. We conclude that although circulating antigen-reactive T-cells are present in chlamydial cervicitis patients, absence of protective antibody as well as impairment of local cell-mediated immunity may be responsible for alteration of the mucosal defence mechanism against chlamydial infection.
为了研究沙眼衣原体宫颈炎患者对沙眼衣原体感染的宿主免疫反应，我们对15例患者和10名正常对照者进行了针对纯化蛋白衍生物（PPD）和沙眼衣原体抗原（原体）的淋巴细胞增殖反应研究。与未刺激的外周血单个核细胞（PBMC）相比，PPD和沙眼衣原体抗原刺激后外周血单个核细胞出现显著的淋巴细胞增殖（P < 0.001），表明患者体内存在抗原反应性T细胞。与对照者相比，患者对沙眼衣原体的淋巴细胞增殖反应无显著差异，提示沙眼衣原体宫颈炎患者外周血中的细胞介导免疫（CMI）反应未改变。沙眼衣原体宫颈炎患者宫颈分泌物中IL-2产生的抑制率在44%至84%之间，而PPD刺激的PBMC培养上清液未显示出抑制作用。然而，对照者中PPD刺激的分泌物或培养上清液中IL-2产生均未受到抑制，这表明患者的局部细胞介导免疫受损。15例患者中只有3例宫颈分泌物中存在显著的沙眼衣原体特异性IgA抗体。大多数患者血清中检测到沙眼衣原体特异性IgG、IgM和IgA，提示血清抗体不能在局部提供免疫保护。我们得出结论，虽然沙眼衣原体宫颈炎患者体内存在循环抗原反应性T细胞，但保护性抗体的缺乏以及局部细胞介导免疫的受损可能是导致针对沙眼衣原体感染的黏膜防御机制改变的原因。
