OT-1 mice display minimal upper genital tract pathology following primary intravaginal Chlamydia muridarum infection

Chlamydia trachomatis is the most common bacterial sexually transmitted disease worldwide and leads to serious pathological sequelae in the upper genital tract (UGT) including pelvic inflammatory disease, ectopic pregnancy, and infertility. Several components of the host immune responses have been shown to contribute to the UGT pathology following genital chlamydial infection. We have shown recently that CD8(+) T cells induce the chlamydial UGT pathology via the production of TNF-α. However, those studies did not determine whether the pathology is mediated by bystander or antigen-specific CD8(+) T cells. In this study, we compared chlamydial clearance and UGT pathology in OT-1 transgenic mice and the corresponding C57BL/6J wild-type mice following primary intravaginal Chlamydia muridarum infection. All CD8(+) T cells in the OT-1 mice respond only to the Ova 257-264 peptide and are incapable of responding to other antigenic epitopes including those of Chlamydia. OT-1 mice displayed vaginal chlamydial clearance comparable to the wild-type animals. However, both oviduct and uterine horn pathology were minimal in the OT-1 mice compared with the high degree of pathology observed in the wild-type animals. These results strongly suggest that Chlamydia-specific, not bystander, CD8(+) T cells mediate the UGT pathological sequelae following genital chlamydial infection.