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Association between Chlamydia trachomatis antibodies and subfertility in the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 (NFBC 1966), at the age of 31 years

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 November 2004

L. KARINEN
Affiliation:
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University Hospital of Oulu, P.O. Box 24, 90029 OYS, Finland
A. POUTA
Affiliation:
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University Hospital of Oulu, P.O. Box 24, 90029 OYS, Finland Department of Public Health Science and General Practice, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 5000, 90014 Oulu, Finland
A.-L. HARTIKAINEN
Affiliation:
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University Hospital of Oulu, P.O. Box 24, 90029 OYS, Finland
A. BLOIGU
Affiliation:
National Public Health Institute, P.O. Box 310, 90101 Oulu, Finland
M. PALDANIUS
Affiliation:
National Public Health Institute, P.O. Box 310, 90101 Oulu, Finland
M. LEINONEN
Affiliation:
National Public Health Institute, P.O. Box 310, 90101 Oulu, Finland
P. SAIKKU
Affiliation:
Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 5000, 90014 Oulu, Finland
M.-R. JÄRVELIN
Affiliation:
Department of Public Health Science and General Practice, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 5000, 90014 Oulu, Finland Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Imperial College London, Norfolk Place, London W2 1PG, UK
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Abstract

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The objective of this study was to assess the serological association between previous Chlamydia trachomatis infection and subfertility in a general population sample. A nested case (n=493)-control (n=986) study in a population-based birth cohort consisting of 12058 live births from the year 1966 was conducted. The analysis was restricted to those 6007 cohort members who replied to a postal inquiry and participated in a health examination including blood samples at the age of 31 years. The presence of C. trachomatis-specific serum IgG antibodies was screened by a synthetic peptide-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. All the positive sera were further tested by the microimmunofluorescence method using immunotype pools and individual immunotypes of C. trachomatis as antigens. An association was found between the detection of immunotype-specific C. trachomatis antibodies and subfertility both in men and women. The results of the present study confirm the serological association between past C. trachomatis infections and subfertility in male or female partners of the couple in the population-based sample.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2004 Cambridge University Press