Major progress in chlamydia research

Kiel/Lübeck  1 December 2010 Prof. Jan Rupp, M.D., of the Inflammation Research Excellence Cluster, and his team have found out which influences the oxygen content in mucous membranes have on the healing process of a chlamydial infection. Through these findings it is clear why, up to now, the disease has often been difficult to treat and even untreatable. It was previously regarded as unsolved – the fact that many bacteria survive antibiotic medication, even though they haven’t developed a resistance to antibiotics. The research findings have been published in PNAS (Link to the website: http://www.pnas.org/content/107/45/19502.abstract).

The bacterial infection with chlamydia is the world’s most common sexually transmitted infection (STI). In particular, women ages between 18 and 24 years receive the initial infection. The disease is insidious: Many of those affected remain asymptomatic; the infection is often noticed only after many years. The consequences can be severe: in Germany alone it is estimated that more than 100,000 women are unable to conceive children due to a chronic chlamydial infection. More than 1 million women are thought to be infected and the number of primary infections rises dramatically from year to year.

Prof. Jan Rupp, M.D., of the Inflammation Research Excellence Cluster, has now with his team found characteristics of this bacterial species that can revolutionize the handling and treatment of the unwanted guests: “Chlamydia establishes itself in the mucous membranes of men and women and can live there undetected for years. We have now discovered that the natural immune response of humans against chlamydia only works if enough oxygen is present in the mucous membranes. Only then can chlamydia be effectively combated, because it prefers, and seeks, a low-oxygen environment where it can settle in and multiply. Since the oxygen content in the fallopian tubes of women, as well as other locations in the human body, is subject to fluctuations,  it depends on the particular momentary constitution and condition as to whether the chlamydia has a chance to survive or not. If the bacteria find a low-oxygen environment, they grow. This growth is perceived by the body as inflammation. It has the consequence that the body sends messengers to fight the inflammation, which then use up the local oxygen – and thus create favorable conditions for further chlamydial growth.  And this often leads to long-term inflammation,” explains Prof. Rupp.

These findings are new and provide important insights for the next steps. Prof. Rupp, speaking about the background of the research: “Up to now, the bacteria were examined in the laboratory – and that means, with air. In the human body, however, the conditions tend to be different in relation to oxygen. That is why we conducted our research under these real conditions – and thus came upon these completely new insights. We will now continue to work to find out what the relationship is between the immune control of humans and the oxygen content of the human body.”  

The Cluster of Excellence "Inflammation at Interfaces"

The Inflammation Research Excellence Cluster follows a unique, interdisciplinary research approach in order to decode the causes of chonic inflammation and to develop therapies for healing. The research association brings together the competences of approximately200 geneticists, biologists, nutritionists and physicians from Kiel University and the University of Lübeck, the Research Institute Borstel and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, Plön. In Germany alone, millions of people suffer from chronic inflammation of the lungs (asthma), the skin (psoriasis), the intestines (Crohn’s disease) and the brain (Parkinson’s disease). The trigger is a disorder of the immune system: it incessantly activates inflammatory mediators and defense cells, thereby destroying healthy tissue. The number of sufferers increases daily. This phenomenon of modern civilization has become the challenge for 21st Century medicine. Accordingly, in 2007 the German Federal Government and the German Research Foundation declared the decoding of the complex inflammation mechanism to be a national scientific priority.

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