TY - JOUR
T1 - Impact of Waddlia chondrophila infection on pregnancy in the mouse
AU - Baud, D.
AU - Ammerdorffer, A.
AU - Buffe, Y.
AU - Vouga, M.
AU - Greub, G.
AU - Stojanov, M.
PY - 2020/1
Y1 - 2020/1
N2 - The intracellular bacterium Waddlia chondrophila, which belongs to the Chlamydiales order, was found to be associated with miscarriage in humans. There is little to no knowledge regarding the mode of infection, impact on the neonate and pathophysiology of this emerging bacterium. We have previously shown that W. chondrophila induces a systemic infection, organ pathology and elicits T helper type 1-associated humoral immunity in a murine model of genital infection. In the present study, we took advantage of this model of infection to evaluate the impact of this bacterium on the mouse pregnancy. We used two routes of inoculation, vaginal and intrauterine, to introduce infection before and after mating. Our results show that genital infection by W. chondrophila did not have any significant impact on gestation length and maternal weight gain, nor on the number of offspring and their weight. This observation indicates that the mouse model of infection is not suitable to study the effect of W. chondrophila on pregnancy and alternative models of infection, including in vitro ones, should be used. Moreover, an indirect immunopathological mechanism activated by this bacterium should be further explored.
AB - The intracellular bacterium Waddlia chondrophila, which belongs to the Chlamydiales order, was found to be associated with miscarriage in humans. There is little to no knowledge regarding the mode of infection, impact on the neonate and pathophysiology of this emerging bacterium. We have previously shown that W. chondrophila induces a systemic infection, organ pathology and elicits T helper type 1-associated humoral immunity in a murine model of genital infection. In the present study, we took advantage of this model of infection to evaluate the impact of this bacterium on the mouse pregnancy. We used two routes of inoculation, vaginal and intrauterine, to introduce infection before and after mating. Our results show that genital infection by W. chondrophila did not have any significant impact on gestation length and maternal weight gain, nor on the number of offspring and their weight. This observation indicates that the mouse model of infection is not suitable to study the effect of W. chondrophila on pregnancy and alternative models of infection, including in vitro ones, should be used. Moreover, an indirect immunopathological mechanism activated by this bacterium should be further explored.
KW - Adverse pregnancy outcomes
KW - Waddlia chondrophila
KW - chlamydiales
KW - genital model
KW - mouse
UR - https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?partnerID=HzOxMe3b&scp=85076322004&origin=inward
U2 - 10.1016/j.nmni.2019.100619
DO - 10.1016/j.nmni.2019.100619
M3 - Article
C2 - 31885870
VL - 33
JO - New Microbes and New Infections
JF - New Microbes and New Infections
SN - 2052-2975
M1 - 100619
ER -