Chlamydia infection and arthritis

Abstract

Chlamydiae are intracellular micro-organisms of a prokaryotic nature, and they are able to initiate similar pathological processes both in human beings and in animals. The arthritogenic potency of Chlamydia manifests itself both in domestic animals as chlamydia polyarthritis and in human beings as various joint symptoms in association with generalized chlamydiosis of zoonotic origin, ornithosis, venereal lymphogranuloma and urogenital chlamydiosis.

In the attractive concept of the multifactorial aetiopathogenesis of the venereal form of Rei-ter's syndrome, local urogenital chlamydiosis is considered the triggering factor of arthritis and other inflammatory sings in genetically predisposed individuals. In this case, arthritis is reactive in its nature, and does not imply that the pathogen enters the joint. On the other hand, results of a limited number of studies on isolation of chlamydiae from joints indicate that invasive chlamydia arthritis also occurs in some patients with Reiter's syndrome.

Comparative studies of chlamydiae isolated from joints and urogenital organs reveal heterogeneity of the urogenital strains: only some of these strains possess the same biotype as the strains isolated from the joints. These results indicate that the pathogenesis of chlamydia arthritis is not uniform. They might also explain why the venereal form of Reiter's syndrome is seen only in some patients with urogenital chlamydiosis.

Key Words:

• Chlamydia
• arthritis