Analysis of Chlamydia trachomatis serovars in endocervical specimens derived from pregnant Japanese women

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method has been employed to amplify a chlamydial genome encoding four variable segments of the major outer membrane protein and genotyping of different Chlamydia trachomatis serovars was successfully achieved by means of restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis and sequencing of amplified DNA. These methods were applied to identify the serotypes of C. trachomatis in endocervical specimens obtained from asymptomatic pregnant Japanese women at 28-30 weeks of gestation. Among the 218 specimens, 207 were serotyped 43 (19.3%) as serovar D, 53 (24.3%) as E, 24 (11.0%) as F, 39 (17.9%) as G, 15 (6. 9%) as H, 15 (6.9%) as I, five (2.3%) as J, nine (4.1%) as K and four (1.8%) as mixed. Among the 11 unclassified strains by RFLP, six (2.8%) were identified as serovar B variants and five (2.3%) were identified as D/IC-Cal-8. It was suggested that variants of endemic trachoma serovars also have affinity for the urogenital tract of Japanese pregnant women.