Chlamydia pneumoniae immunology

Chlamydiae are common pathogens that cause a numberof serious but preventablediseases in both humans and animals. In the recentyears Chlamydia pneumoniae has emerged as a majorcause of human respiratory disease and moreimportantly it has been linked to the establishmentand exacerbation of serious chronic diseasesincluding atherosclerosis and ischaemic heartdisease multiple sclerosis and reactive arthritis. There has been a lot of research into host responsesto chlamydial infections and the development ofimmunopathology; but considerable gaps in ourknowledge remain. The work described here aimed toanalyse the early innate immune responses in the lungfollowing C. pneumoniae infections with a view tobetter understanding host-pathogen interactions andthe role of the earliest immune responses in theestablishment of persistence and chronic inflammatorydisease.