Prevalence of antibodies to Chlamydia trachomatis and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia. A case-control study

In an attempt to evaluate the role of Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) cervicitis in the genesis of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) a case-control seroepidemiological study was carried out. A series of 134 index patients with histological diagnosis of CIN (84 CIN-1, 30 CIN-2 and 20 CIN-3) were matched for age to 134 cytologically and colposcopically negative control patients. Endocervical and urethral specimens to isolate CT in cell culture and a blood sample to detect IgG and IgA anti-chlamydial specific antibodies by indirect immunoperoxidase assay were obtained both in cases and controls. The rate of endocervical CT isolation was 3% (4/134) among cases and 5.2% (7/134) among controls. The rate of detection of IgG and IgA antibodies was similar in the two groups (32.8% vs 34.3% and 15.7% vs 17.9%, respectively) and was influenced mainly by the age and the number of pregnancies of the patients. After stratification by severity of cervical lesion, no differences were found between cases and controls both for IgG and IgA seroprevalences. In a population at low risk for CT infection, actual or past CT cervicitis seems not to play a significant role in the genesis of CIN.