Anti-Chlamydia pneumoniae IgM Abs
Chlamydia are a group of obligate intracellular parasites that are close to Gram-negative bacteria, which have lost the ability to synthesize ATP, GTP, and a number of other enzyme systems. This determines their intracellular growth. All chlamydiae are similar in morphological features, have a common group antigen and multiply in the cytoplasm of the host organism, passing through certain stages of development. The infectious principle is an elementary body, 0.3 ?m in diameter, which penetrates into the host cell by phagocytosis, and a vacuole is formed from the surface membranes of the cell around the elementary body. The elementary body is divided into a reticular body with a diameter of about 0.5-1.0 ?m. Inside the formed vacuole, the coarse particle grows and is divided many times by the formation of a transverse septum, and eventually the entire vacuole is filled with elementary particles (up to 200-1000 infectious units) and turns into inclusion in the cytoplasm of the host cell. Newly formed elementary corpuscles leave the cell and can infect new cells. The entire cycle takes 48-72 hours. Relate to the family Chlamydiaceae, and, according to the new classification, are divided into two genuses: Chlamydia and Chlamydophila : The genus Chlamydia includes species of Chl. trachomatis , Chl.muridarum and Chl.suis , of which Chl. trachomatis is exclusively a human parasite, and the other two species cause diseases of rodents and ruminants. Different strains of Chl. trachomatis can cause trachoma, urogenital tract diseases, some forms of arthritis, conjunctivitis and pneumonia in newborns. The genus Chlamydophila is composed of Chl. psittaci , Chl. pneumoniae and Chl. pecorum , Chlamydophila abortus , Chlamydophila caviae and Chlamydophila felis .