Chlamydia trachomatis

Chlamydia trachomatis is one of the most prevalent sexually transmitted pathogens. The organism is an obligate intracellular parasite that exclusively infects humans. 75% of women and 25% of men with Chlamydia show no symptoms at all. In women, symptoms include increased vaginal discharge, burning during urination, or bleeding after sexual intercourse. In men, non-gonococcal urethritis is the main symptom. Contact of infected secretions from the genitals to the hands and eventually to the eyes can cause trachoma which can lead to blindness.

C. trachomatis persists at body sites that are inaccessible to phagocytes, T-cells, and B-cells. The surface of C. trachomatis does not contain proteins that are distinctive enough to induce a full immune response. Treatment of C. trachomatis is accomplished with various antibiotics.

A 136 bp fragment of the Chlamydia trachomatis MOMP gene1 is amplified with specific primers and detected with probes labeled with LightCycler^® Red 640 (detected in channel 640). The PCR product is identified by running a melting curve with a specific melting point (Tm) of 66°C in channel 640. An additional PCR product of 278 bp is formed from the internal positive control DNA. This control will not interfere with the Chlamydia trachomatis specific reactions. The amplification will usually fail in the presence of higher concentrated Chlamydia trachomatis DNA samples (1,000 - 10,000 copies or higher) but it will display an amplification signal in negative and low-concentrated samples. The probes are labeled with the dye LC690 Detection is recorded in channel 705; the specific Tm is about 67-68°C. The IC is supplied separately to allow running the assay with or without IC.