New chlamydia research from Columbus Children's Hospital outlined.(Report)

"This is the first study to investigate vertical transmission of Chlamydia trachomatis in Chongqing China. For this study, 300 cervical swab samples from pregnant women and 305 nasopharygeal swab samples from their babies (605 specimens) were collected for nest polymerase chain reaction (nPCR) of the ompl gene, which encodes the major outer membrane protein (MOMP) and typed C. trachomatis using Cleavase fragment-length polymorphism (CFLP) labeled with digoxin," scientists in Chongqing, People's Republic of China report (see also Chlamydia).

"From these samples, 11% (33/300) of pregnant women samples were successfully amplified. The vertical transmission rate of C. trachomatis from mother to baby was 24% (8/33). The vertical transmission rates were 66.7% (6/9) for mothers with vaginal delivery and 8.3% (2/24) for those with cesarean section. The incidence of premature membrane rupture among C. trachomatis-positive pregnant women was 30.3% (10/33), which was greater than among those who were C. trachomatis-negative (13.5%, 36/267; chi(2) = 4.2; p

The researchers concluded: "As a promising method for C. trachomatis genotyping, CFLP had good sensitivity, reproducibility, and simplicity and no radioactive contamination."

Yu and colleagues published their study in Current Microbiology (Vertical Transmission of Chlamydia trachomatis in Chongqing China. Current Microbiology, 2009;58(4):315-320).

For additional information, contact J.L. Yu, Chongqing Med ...