Chlamydia pneumoniae

[5] Chlamydia pneumoniae has a complex life cycle and must infect another cell to reproduce; thus, it is classified as an obligate intracellular pathogen.[6] It also infects and causes disease in koalas, emerald tree boas (Corallus caninus), iguanas, chameleons, frogs, and turtles.[7][8] Chlamydia pneumoniae is a small gram-negative bacterium (0.2 to 1 μm) that undergoes several transformations during its life cycle.[12][13][14] In research into the association between C. pneumoniae infection and atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease, serological testing, direct pathologic analysis of plaques, and in vitro testing suggest infection with C. pneumoniae is a significant risk factor for development of atherosclerotic plaques and atherosclerosis.[16] However, most current research and data are insufficient and do not define how often C. pneumoniae is found in atherosclerotic or normal vascular tissue.[19] Subsequent studies of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid from pediatric patients with asthma and also other severe chronic respiratory illnesses have demonstrated that over 50 percent had evidence of C. pneumoniae by direct organism identification.[22] These observations suggest that acute C. pneumoniae infection is capable of causing protean manifestations of chronic respiratory illness which lead to asthma.One of these RCTs[27] and another macrolide trial[28] suggest that the treatment effect may be greatest in patients with severe, refractory asthma.
Micrograph of Chlamydia pneumoniae in an epithelial cell in acute bronchitis: 1 – infected epitheliocyte, 2 – uninfected epitheliocytes, 3 – chlamydial inclusion bodies in cell, 4 – cell nuclei
Life cycle of Chlamydia pneumoniae . A — Chlamydia elementary body. B — Lung cell. 2 — Chlamydia enters the cell. 3—Elementary body becomes a reticulate body. 4 — Replication. 5 — Reticulate bodies become elementary bodies and are released to infect other cells. [ citation needed ]
Scientific classificationBacteriaChlamydiotaChlamydiiaChlamydialesChlamydiaceaeChlamydiaBinomial nameSynonymsobligate intracellularpneumoniareproduceobligate intracellular pathogengenomekoalasemerald tree boasiguanaschameleonsconjunctivitisTaiwanpharyngitisbronchitiscoronary artery diseaseatypical pneumoniaenvironmentalinfecteddropletsendosomephagocytosislysosomesorganismAsthma-related microbescommunity-acquired pneumoniaStreptococcus pneumoniaemeta-analysisserologicalatherosclerosisplaquesmacrophagesendothelial cellsvascularschizophreniachronic fatigue syndromeantibioticsmacrolideerythromycintetracyclinestetracyclinedoxycyclineclarithromycinazithromycinpenicillinampicillinsulfa drugsfluoroquinoloneslevofloxacingatifloxacingemifloxacinmoxifloxacinantigensMedical Subject HeadingsBibcodeCiteSeerXWayback MachineBacterial diseasesgram negativeproteobacteriaSpirochaetotaSpirochaetaceaeTreponemaTreponema pallidumSyphilisTreponema carateumTreponema denticolaBorreliaBorrelia burgdorferiBorrelia afzeliiLyme diseaseErythema migransNeuroborreliosisBorrelia recurrentisBorrelia hermsiiBorrelia duttoniBorrelia parkeriLeptospiraceaeLeptospiraLeptospira interrogansLeptospirosisChlamydia psittaciPsittacosisChlamydia trachomatisLymphogranuloma venereumTrachomaBacteroidotaBacteroides fragilisTannerella forsythiaCapnocytophaga canimorsusPorphyromonas gingivalisPrevotella intermediaFusobacteriotaFusobacterium necrophorumLemierre's syndromeFusobacterium nucleatumFusobacterium polymorphumStreptobacillus moniliformisRat-bite feverHaverhill feverWikidataBacDiveOpen Tree of Life