Interaction of Microbiology and Pathology in Women Undergoing Investigations for Infertility

Debattista J, Joseph Debattista, Caroline M. Gazzard, Gazzard CM, Wood RN, Robyn N. Wood, John A. Allan, Allan JA, John Allan, Allan JM, Janet M. Allan, Scarman A, Anthony Scarman, Anthony L. Scarman, Miranda Mortlock, Miranda Y. Mortlock, Peter Timms, Christine L. Knox
Infectious diseases in obstetrics and gynecology · 2004 · vol. 12(3-4) , pp. 135–145 · doi:10.1080/10647440400020703 · PMID:15763913 · PMC1784600 · W2149353781
article OA: gold CC0 ⤵ 2 in-corpus citations
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-12 ⓘ

This study found that women with infertility and no or mild endometriosis had a higher rate of previous Chlamydia trachomatis infection, suggesting it may contribute to tubal damage.

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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Cases of endometriosis with no tubal damage are associated with infertility, suggesting an immunological rather than mechanical barrier to reproduction. Laparoscopy and falloposcopy results of clinically asymptomatic women undergoing investigation of infertility were correlated with the outcomes of microbiological screening for Chlamydia trachomatis, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, Mycoplasma hominis, ureaplasma species, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Neisseria meningitidis and Chlamydia pneumoniae. METHODS: A total of 44 women presenting to a hospital IVF service for laparoscopic or laparoscopic/falloposcopic investigation of infertility provided endocervical swabs, fallopian tube washings, and peripheral whole blood for analysis. RESULTS: Of these 44 women, 15.9% (7) showed evidence of C. trachomatis infection as detected by either PCR or EIA serology. Of these 7 women, 5 (71%) had no or mild endometriosis and 2 (29%) had moderate or severe endometriosis. Of the remaining 37 women who showed no evidence of chlamydial infection, 15 (40.5%) had no or mild endometriosis. CONCLUSION: Women with infertility, but without severe endometriosis at laparoscopy, showed a trend towards tubal damage and a higher rate of previous C. trachomatis infection. Although not statistically significant, this trend would suggest that, where moderate to severe tubal damage is found to be the primary cause of infertility, C. trachomatis infection could be a likely cause for such tubal damage.

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Condition tags

endometriosisinfertility

MeSH descriptors

Chlamydia Infections Chlamydia trachomatis Endometriosis Infertility, Female Chlamydia Infections Chlamydia Infections Chlamydia Infections Chlamydia trachomatis Chlamydia trachomatis Chlamydophila pneumoniae Chlamydophila pneumoniae Chlamydophila pneumoniae DNA, Bacterial DNA, Bacterial DNA Primers Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Fallopian Tubes Fallopian Tubes

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References (54)

Cited by (2)

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