Anti-C. trachomatis MOMP Polyclonal antibody

Male chlamydial infections are becoming more recognised as an aetiological agent in infertility. An IFN-gamma response is required for protection against Chlamydia in females, but may have the potential to induce pathology in the immune-privileged male reproductive tract. We examined the induction of immunity following intranasal immunisation with major outer membrane protein (MOMP) of Chlamydia muridarum in male BALB/c mice, and the role of MOMP-specific CD4(+) T cells in clearance of an intrapenile infection. Here we report that adoptive transfer of MOMP-specific CD4(+) T cells into naive mice confers partial protective immunity, which significantly reduces the tissue burden of Chlamydia. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

To test several vaccines for Chlamydia trachomatis we vaccinated BALB/c and C3H/HeN female mice with a purified preparation of the native mouse pneumonitis (MoPn) major outer membrane protein (MOMP). The MOMP was formulated with anyone of three different adjuvants MF59. LT-K63 or LT-R72. As a negative control the animals were immunized with ovalbumin. Positive controls were inoculated intranasally (i.n.) with 10(4) inclusion-forming units (IFU) of C. trachomatis MoPn. High levels of Chlamydia-specific antibodies were detected in the serum and vaginal washes of the mice immunized with MOMP. Using a lymphoproliferative assay (LPA) a significant response was obtained in splenocytes from most of the groups of mice vaccinated with MOMP. Two weeks after the last immunization the mice were challenged in the left ovarian bursa with 10(5) IFU of C. trachomatis MoPn and vaginal cultures were collected fora period of 6 weeks. Overall, BALB/c and C3H/HeN mice immunized with MOMP showed a decrease in the severity and length of the infection but the difference with the controls was not statistically significant. Following mating the percentage, of mice with bilateral fertility was not significantly different between mice vaccinated with MOMP and their respective ovalbumin-immunized controls. However, the C3H/HeN mice immunized with MOMP using MF59 or LTR72 as adjuvants had significantly more embryos per mouse than the control groups. In conclusion, mice immunized with native MOMP and adjuvants developed for human vaccines showed significant Chlamydia-specific immune response and a limited protection against infection and long-term sequelae. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.