pneumoniae infection in asthma patients be proven, C. pneumoniae eradication from the airways would become an important aspect of asthma treatment. Antibiotics ...HomeEditorialBoardReviewsContactUsSearchChlamydophila(Chlamydia)pneumoniaeAuthors:FrancescoBlasi,M.D.PaoloTarsia,M.D.Previousauthor:LisaA.Jackson,M.D.,J.ThomasGrayston,M.D.,1997Edition,2002EditionMonographTablesWhat'sNewReviewsHistoryMICROBIOLOGYChlamydiaisanobligateintracellularbacteriathathasauniquebiphasicdevelopmentalcycle.Thegenuscontainsthreespecieswhicharehumanpathogens;C.psittaci,C.trachomatis,andC.pneumoniae(TWAR).Chlamydiaehavecellwallswithinnerandoutermembranes,replicatebybinaryfission,containDNA,RNA,andribosomes,andsynthesizesomeproteins.TheycannothoweversynthesizeATPorGTPandmustrelyonthehostcellforATP.Thebacteriumpresentsintwodevelopmentalforms:infectiveelementarybodiesandreproductivereticulatebodies.Thesmall,denseelementarybodyisthemetabolically-inactiveinfectiousformoftheorganism.Elementarybodieshavearigidcellwallresultingfromdisulfidecross-linkingofenvelopeproteins,allowingsurvivaloutsideofthehostcell.Afterinfectionofthehostcellbyreceptor-mediatedendocytosis,theelementarybodiesdifferentiateintoreticulatebodies.Thereticulatebodyisthelarger,metabolicallyactiveformoftheorganism.Insidethehostcell,thereticulatebodydividesbybinaryfission,formingamicrocolonyreferredtoasachlamydialinclusion.Afteraperiodofgrowthanddivision,thereticulatebodiesreorganizeandcondensetoformnewelementarybodies.Afterhostcelllysis,theelementarybodiesarereleasedtoinitiatenewinfectiouscycles.ThefirstC.pneumoniaeisolateswereserendipitouslyobtainedfromconjunctivalculturesofchildrenduringtrachomavaccinestudiesinthe1960s.Theorganismisnot,however,associatedwitheyeinfectionanditsroleasahumanpathogenwasnotfullydefineduntil1983,whenthefirstrespiratoryisolatewasobtained(26).SincethattimeC.pneumoniaehasbeenidentifiedasanimportantcauseofcommunity-acquiredrespiratoryinfections,suchascommunity-acquiredpneumoniaandacutebronchitis.ThefirstC