title: Frequency of anti-Chlamydia trachomatis antibodies in infertile women referred to Tabriz Al-Zahra hospital.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Infertility is one of the major issues in society and its incidence is estimated to be almost 10-15%. Chlamydia trachomatis (C. trachomatis) is an important cause of sexually transmitted diseases leading to infertility.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study was designed to determine the frequency of anti-C. trachomatis antibodies in infertile women at Al-zahra hospital, Tabriz, Iran.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this cross-sectional study, the blood samples were collected randomly from 184 infertile women (case group) and 100 pregnant women (control group). The frequency of specific IgG and IgM anti-C. trachomatis antibodies were evaluated using ELISA method.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The frequency of IgG anti-C. trachomatis antibody in the control and case groups was 18% and 35.88%, respectively. IgM anti-C. trachomatis antibody was found in 2% of controls and 5.44% of infertile women. Our results showed the significant differences between the case and control groups in anti-C. trachomatis antibodies (IgG, p=0.035 and IgM, p=0.004). Also, no significant relation was seen between the frequency of anti-C. trachomatis antibodies and age, location, and tubal factor infertility in our two study groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  According to high frequency of antibody anti-C. trachomatis among infertile women in competition to the control group, evaluation and treatment of Chlamydia infections is necessary in these patients.
authors.affiliation: Microbiology Department, Faculty of Basic Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Ahar Branch, Ahar, Iran.
authors.forename: Mahtab
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sattari
authors.affiliation: Microbiology Department, Faculty of Basic Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Ahar Branch, Ahar, Iran.
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ghiami Rad
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Aaliye
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ghasemzadeh
authors.affiliation: Microbiology Department, Faculty of Basic Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Ahar Branch, Ahar, Iran.
authors.forename: Zahra
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Mohammadoghli Reihan
keywords: Chlamydia trachomatis; Infertile women; Tabriz