131503 - The relative contribution of causal factors in the transition from infection to clinical chlamydial disease.pdf (3.23 MB)
The relative contribution of causal factors in the transition from infection to clinical chlamydial disease
journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-20, 01:59 authored by Quigley, BL, Scott CarverScott Carver, Hanger, J, Vidgen, ME, Timms, PChlamydia is a major bacterial pathogen in humans and animals globally. Yet 80% of infections never progress to clinical disease. Decades of research have generated an interconnected network linking pathogen, host, and environmental factors to disease expression, but the relative importance of these and whether they account for disease progression remains unknown. To address this, we used structural equation modeling to evaluate putative factors likely to contribute to urogenital and ocular chlamydial disease in the koala (Phascolarctos cinereus). These factors include Chlamydia detection, load, and ompA genotype; urogenital and ocular microbiomes; host sex, age, weight, body condition; breading season, time of year; location; retrovirus co-infection; and major histocompatibility complex class II (MHCII) alleles. We show different microbiological processes underpin disease progression at urogenital and ocular sites. From each category of factors, urogenital disease was most strongly predicted by chlamydial PCR detection and load, koala body condition and environmental location. In contrast, ocular disease was most strongly predicted by phylum-level Chlamydiae microbiome proportions, sampling during breeding season and co-infection with koala retrovirus subtype B. Host MHCII alleles also contributed predictive power to both disease models. Our results also show considerable uncertainty remains, suggesting major causal mechanisms are yet to be discovered.
History
Publication title
Scientific ReportsVolume
8Article number
8893Number
8893Pagination
1-11ISSN
2045-2322Department/School
School of Natural SciencesPublisher
Nature Publishing GroupPlace of publication
United KingdomRights statement
Copyright 2018 the authors. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Repository Status
- Open