Researchers Pursue Vaccine Strategy To Combat Sexually Transmitted Disease

Main Category: Sexual Health / STDs
Also Included In: Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses;  Immune System / Vaccines
Article Date: 10 Feb 2009 - 1:00 PDT

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The National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded Chlamydia researchers at The South Texas Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases (STCEID) at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) a $1.8 million grant over the next five years to study the pathogenesis of Chlamydia trachomatis, the bacterium that causes human genital Chlamydia.

"The Chlamydia infection is the world's leading bacterial sexually transmitted disease," said Bernard Arulanandam, professor of microbiology and immunology at UTSA and the study's principal investigator. "Because there is no licensed vaccine available to treat Chlamydia and its symptoms often go unnoticed, many patients who contract Chlamydia will develop pelvic inflammatory disease, which can lead to infertility."

It is estimated that at least 2.2 million people in the United States are infected with Chlamydia, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Arulanandam's team of researchers, led by Dr. Ashlesh Murthy, research assistant professor, has been studying various aspects of Chlamydia for nine years. The new funding, however, will allow the team to document in more detail how Chlamydia causes pelvic inflammatory damage (PID). Observations will include what cell types appear during PID, how they develop and how the disease progresses. Moreover, researchers hope to begin developing a vaccine strategy once they understand which parts of the immune system need to be activated to form an effective defense against Chlamydia.

The work of the UTSA Chlamydia group has been profiled at various national and international meetings. This week, Arulanandam will appear in New Delhi, India at the National Institute of Immunology's annual conference to discuss his team's vaccination strategy for the prevention of upper genital tract infections of Chlamydia. The research organization is the Indian equivalent of the NIH in the U.S.

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The University of Texas at San Antonio is one of the fastest growing higher education institutions in Texas and the second largest of nine academic universities and six health institutions in the UT System. As a multicultural institution of access and excellence, UTSA aims to be a premier public research university providing access to educational excellence and preparing citizen leaders for the global environment.

UTSA serves more than 28,400 students in 64 bachelor's, 46 master's and 21 doctoral degree programs in the colleges of Architecture, Business, Education and Human Development, Engineering, Honors, Liberal and Fine Arts, Public Policy, Sciences and Graduate School. Founded in 1969, UTSA is an intellectual and creative resource center and a socioeconomic development catalyst for Texas and beyond.

Source: Christi Fish
University of Texas at San Antonio

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