PROLIFERATIVE RESPONSE TO CONSERVED EPITOPES OF THE CHLAMYDIA-TRACHOMATIS AND HUMAN 60-KILODALTON HEAT-SHOCK PROTEINS BY LYMPHOCYTES FROM WOMEN WITH SALPINGITIS

OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to determine whether an upper genital tra ct Chlamydia trachomatis infection sensitizes lymphocytes to heat-shoc k protein epitopes expressed in both the human and chlamydial 60 kd he at-shock protein. STUDY DESIGN: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells wer e isolated from women with or without a prior documented salpingitis a nd tested for their ability to proliferate in response to the recombin ant C. trachomatis heat-shock protein and to five synthetic peptides c orresponding to conserved epitopes expressed in both the human and chl amydial heat-shock proteins. RESULTS: Among 22 healthy women with no h istory of chlamydial infections or salpingitis and 10 women seen for c omplaints other than a C. trachomatis infection, none had positive lym phocyte responses to any of the peptides and only one responded to the chlamydial heat-shock protein. Among nine women with a single episode of salpingitis none responded to the chlamydial heat-shock protein an d one exhibited a positive lymphocyte response to a single peptide. Th is woman was also positive for C. trachomatis in the cervix. In contra st, among the 10 women with two or more episodes of salpingitis four ( 40%) had proliferation in response to the chlamydial heat-shock protei n and five (50%) had positive lymphocyte responses to one of the pepti des; two of these women also had C. trachomatis detected in their cerv ices. CONCLUSION: In women with a history of C. trachomatis upper geni tal tract infections, infection with C. trachomatis or other microorga nisms can induce a lymphocyte proliferative response to the chlamydial 60 kd heat-shock protein and to epitopes present in the human heat-sh ock protein.