Distribution of Chlamydia trachomatis genovars among youths and adults in Brazil

Abstract

Despite a high prevalence of sexually transmittedChlamydia trachomatisinfections in Brazil and other countries in South America, very little is known about the distribution ofC. trachomatisgenovars. In this study, we genotypedC. trachomatisstrains from urine or endocervical specimens collected from 163C. trachomatis-positive female and male youths, and female adults, residing in two different regions of Brazil, the city of Goiânia located in the central part of Brazil, and the city of Vitória in the south-east region.C. trachomatisstrains were genotyped by amplifying and sequencing theompAgene encoding the chlamydial major outer-membrane protein, which is genovar specific. We found nine differentC. trachomatisgenovars: E (39.3 %), F (16.6 %), D (15.9 %), I (8.6 %), J (7.4 %), G (4.9 %), K (3.1 %), H (2.4 %) and B (1.8 %). The distribution of theC. trachomatisgenovars in the two regions of Brazil was similar, and there was no statistically significant association of serovars with age, gender, number of sexual partners or clinical symptoms. The overall distribution ofC. trachomatisgenovars in Brazil appears similar to that found in other regions of the world, where E, D and F are the most common. This supports the notion that, during the last few decades, the overall distribution ofC. trachomatisgenovars throughout the world has been relatively stable.