Genotyping and prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis infection among women in Belém, Pará, northern Brazil

• Autor(a) principal: Brasiliense, Danielle Murici
• Data de Publicação: 2016
• Outros Autores: Borges, Bárbara do Nascimento, Ferreira, Wallax Augusto Silva
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Digital do Instituto Evandro Chagas (Patuá)
• Texto Completo: https://patua.iec.gov.br/handle/iec/2426
• topic: Chlamydia trachomatis; Infecções por Chlamydia / epidemiologia; Infecções por Chlamydia / genética; Doenças Sexualmente Transmissíveis; Infecções Bacterianas; Reação em Cadeia da Polimerase / métodos; Brasil (BR)

Introduction: Genital Chlamydia trachomatis infection is one of the most prevalent sexually transmitted diseases in women, and undetected cases of the disease are highly associated with long-term complications. Despite the high prevalence of infections in Brazil, very little is known about the distribution of C. trachomatis genovars. In this study, we determined the prevalence and genotypes of C. trachomatis in women treated at a public hospital in the Brazilian city of Belém, the capital of the state of Pará. Methodology: A total of 154 women were tested for chlamydial infection by PCR using specific primers for the C. trachomatiscryptic plasmid. Genotyping of positive samples was performed by sequencing the ompA gene and conducting further phylogenetic analysis. Results: Out of the 154 samples, 17 were found to be positive using C. trachomatis cryptic plasmid PCR. The overall prevalence of C. trachomatis infection was 11 per cent, with the highest prevalence observed in women between 16 and 20 years of age. Five genotypes were found to be associated with endocervical infection. Genotype F was most frequently found (37.5 per cent), followed by genotypes J (25 per cent), E (25 per cent), I (6.25 per cent), and D (6.25 per cent). Conclusions: This study emphasizes the relevance of C. trachomatis infection in the young female population of the Brazilian Amazon region. It also demonstrates the diversity of genotypes involved in genital infection in this population.