title: No association of Chlamydia with abortion.
abstract: Case reports and serological work have raised the possibility that chlamydias can infect the placenta and thus harm the fetus. We investigated the involvement of Chlamydia in a series of 195 unselected cases of spontaneous abortion or miscarriage. Formalin-fixed placental tissues from all cases were examined immunohistochemically, for the presence of chlamydial lipopolysaccharide, as well as histopathologically. A serum sample was collected from 187 of the patients for detection of anti-chlamydial antibodies by microimmunofluorescence. All placental sections were negative for chlamydial antigen. Serological findings indicated that 8 patients had been in contact with C. trachomatis, 15 patients with C. pneumoniae, and none with C. psittaci. A few cases of perivillitis or intervillitis were detected, but none exhibited the intracytoplasmic inclusions typical of C. psittaci. Although these results are negative a search for Chlamydia in abortion materials should be encouraged.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Veterinary Pathology, University of Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Feist
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sydler
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Gebbers
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pospischil
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Guscetti
mesh_terms: D000022:Abortion, Spontaneous / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology*; D000328:Adult; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D002690:Chlamydia Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010920:Placenta / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013557:Switzerland / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D000942:Antigens, Bacterial