Chlamydia trachomatis Infections in Men with Reiter's Syndrome

Abstract

C. trachomatis was isolated from 9 of 19 men with acute, nondiarrheal Reiter''s syndrome who had not recently taken antibiotics. None of 8 untreated men with other forms of arthritis were infected with this organism. C. trachomatis-specific antibody titers and cellular immune responses were positive significantly more often in 35 treated and untreated men with acute, nondiarrheal Reiter''s syndrome than in 7 men with diarrhea-associated Reiter''s syndrome and 8 men with other forms of arthritis. Mean peak chlamydial antibody titers and mean lymphocyte transformation stimulation indices were significantly higher in C. trachomatis-infected men with Reiter''s syndrome than in C. trachomatis-infected men with uncomplicated nongonococcal urethritis. Evidently, C. trachomatis is capable of triggering Reiter''s syndrome in susceptible men and an exaggerated immune respnse to this organism may play a role in the pathogenesis of the disease.