TITLE:
Investigation Correlates of Chlamydia Anti-Body Testing and Hysterosalpingography among Women with Tubal Infertility
AUTHORS:
Afolabi Korede Koledade, Adebiyi Gbadebo Adesiyun
KEYWORDS:
Sero-Prevalence, Chlamydia trachomatis, IgG Antibodies, IgM Antibodies, Tubal Infertility
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology,
Vol.4 No.16,
December
23,
2014
ABSTRACT: Background:Chlamydia
trachomatisinfection is an important preventable cause of infertility. In
women, up to 70% of genital infection withChlamydia trachomatisare
asymptomatic. In the management of infertility patients, a lot of clinicians or
centres do not routinely screen forChlamydia trachomatisinfection.
Hence all patients being investigated for infertility may potentially be at
risk of tubal blockage in addition to non-tubal factor aetiology. Those with
primary tubal blockage also are at risk of worsening of the blockage.
Objective: To determine if there is a relationship between IgG and IgM
Chlamydia antibody testing (CAT) and tubal factor infertility. Design: It was a
cross sectional descriptive study. Method: The sera of 400 consecutive
consenting infertile patients presenting to the gynaecological clinic of the
Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria, Northern Nigeria were tested
for Chlamydia antibodies using ELISA IgG and IgM kits produced by Diagnostic
Automation, Inc., 23961 Craftsman Road, Suite D/E/F, Calabasas, CA 91302, USA. Results:
Up to 264 (66%) of the patients had tubal factor, 64 (16%) had uterine, 56
(14%) had ovarian, 50 (12.5%) had male while 40 (10%) had others. The causative
factors were not mutually exclusive. The sero-prevalence of IgG and IgMChlamydia trachomatisamongst
patients with tubal infertility were 35.6% and 35.6% respectively. There was a
stronger significant relation (P = 0.008) between IgM sero-positivity which
suggests recent infection and tubal infertility. The relation between IgG
sero-positivity which suggest chronic infection and tubal infertility was also
significant (P = 0.036) but relatively lower. Conclusion: The sero-prevalence
ofChlamydia trachomatisinfection,
IgG and IgM was significantly higher among the sub-population with tubal
infertility. Chlamydia antibody testing (CAT) has predictive value for tubal
infertility.