Chlamydia has found a new hiding place

The bacteria that cause chlamydia, a common sexually transmitted infection, can also be found in places other than the genitals on the body.

Chlamydia trachomatisThe type of bacteria responsible for the STD may lurk in our intestines, according to new research in the journal PLOS Pathogens.

These hidden bacteria can then migrate back to the genitals and cause recurring infections.

This discovery could lead to different types of antibiotics being prescribed for infections, so that all bacteria are truly eradicated from the body, the researchers say.

Chlamydia is spread through vaginal, anal, or oral sex with someone who is infected, and can also be passed from an infected mother to her baby during childbirth. According to the World Health Organization, there were 128.5 million new chlamydia infections worldwide in people aged 15 to 49 in 2020.

Symptoms in women may include abnormal vaginal discharge, burning during urination, pelvic pain, pain during intercourse, and bleeding between periods or after sex. Men may experience discharge from the penis, burning during urination, and pain or swelling in one or both testicles. However, most people infected with chlamydia do not experience noticeable symptoms.

If left untreated, chlamydia can lead to serious health problems, including pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) in women. This can cause permanent damage to the reproductive system, leading to infertility or ectopic pregnancy.

There have been numerous studies on the possibility that chlamydia can infect the intestines of other animals, including mice. However, this new research shows that the bacteria may also be present in the intestines of humans.

“Mounting evidence suggests that the gastrointestinal mucosa provides a niche for persistent C. trachomatis infections in the human body and can potentially cause repeated infections in other tissues, including the genital tract. Nevertheless, there are only a limited number of studies on the pathogenesis of C. trachomatis in human GI cells,” the researchers wrote in the article.

The researchers found that cells in the gut are resistant to chlamydia infection on their apical membrane, or the “top” of the cells that faces the gut. They also found that the bacteria could infect the cells through the basolateral membrane, which surrounds the sides and bottom of gut cells that are in contact with other cells.

“We show that GI cells are resistant to apical infection and C. trachomatis “Access to the basolateral membrane is required to establish infection,” the researchers wrote.

The researchers do not yet know exactly how the bacteria reach this part of the cell membrane. More research is needed to determine whether the bacteria enter through small cuts or via the bloodstream.

The scientists also discovered that the chlamydia bacteria living in the intestinal cells can return to the genitals and cause a new infection there.

“We think that more attention should be paid to the possibility that during regular treatment of genital infections, especially in patients with recurrent infections, chlamydia may not be completely cleared from the body,” study co-author Thomas Rudel, a microbiologist at the University of Würzburg in Germany, told Fierce Biotech. “Due to the varying sensitivity of different anatomical regions to antibiotics, this could also have implications for the choice and duration of antibiotic therapy.”

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References

Hovhannisyan, P., Stelzner, K., Keicher, M., Paprotka, K., Neyazi, M., Pauzuolis, M., Ali, W. M., Rajeeve, K., Bartfeld, S., & Rudel, T. (2024). Infection of human organoids supports an intestinal niche for Chlamydia trachomatis. PLOS Pathogens, 20(8). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1012144