Correlation of infecting serovar and local inflammation in genital chlamydial infections

The relationship between acute inflammation and serovar of Chlamydia trachomatis was evaluated in patients with genital chlamydial infection who attended a sexually transmitted diseases clinic. Polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNLS) were enumerated on Gram's-stained smears of endourethral contents in men; cervicitis was scored by visual observation of the endocervix in women. Isolates were serotyped with a monoclonal antibody-based radioimmunoassay. The distribution of serovars in 99 women did not differ in the presence or absence of cervicitis or concurrent gonorrhea. An overall difference (P = .037) was observed when serovar distributions in men with less than or equal to 3 PMNLs (n = 42), greater than or equal to 10 PMNLs (n = 41), and gonococcal urethritis (n = 42) were compared. Follow-up pairwise comparisons revealed that men with less than or equal to 3 PMNLs had fewer isolates of serovars F and G than did men with greater than or equal to 10 PMNLs (P less than .05). No strong overall association was observed between inflammation and serovar.