ABSTRACT

The immune response to chlamydial infections and the role it plays in resistance to reinfection, resolution of ongoing infection, and development of persistent chlamydial infection is poorly understood. Inhibition of chlamydial growth as a result of deprivation of necessary metabolites, such as certain amino acids, has been described previously and shown to be serovar specific. Chlamydiae are obligate intracellular bacteria which parasitize the host cell for nutrients and energy. In the course of infection, the endocytosed parasites convert from their infectious form, elementary bodies, to their replicating form, reticulate bodies (RB). The RB multiply by means of binary fission within the inclusion present in the host cytoplasm until about 20 hours postinfection. The protection of the host cell by IFN is a function of the interferon concentration and the multiplicity of infection. The effect of IFN concentration on C. trachomatis infectious particle production was measured by one-step growth experiments.