Toward understanding chlamydia infection-induced infertility caused by dysfunctional oviducts

摘要

To the Editor-It has been reported that untreated or repeated Chlamydia tracho-matis infections result in scarring and fibrosis of the oviducts and cause 30%-40% of all cases of female infertility [1]. However, little is known of the molecular mechanisms that are responsible for the Chlamydia infection-induced infertility that is caused by dysfunctional oviducts. We read with interest the recent article by Igietseme et al [2], in which the authors hypothesized that infection-stage-dependent activation of caspase-3, an apoptotic protease, and aberrant expression of Dicer-dependent microRNAs (miRNAs) in mouse oviducts contribute to Chlamydia infection-induced infertility, as we have illustrated in Figure 1.