Chlamydiae are pathogenic intracellular bacteria that cause a wide variety of diseases throughout the globe, affecting the eye, lung, coronary arteries and female genital tract. Rather than by direct cellular toxicity, Chlamydia infection generally causes pathology by inducing fibrosis and scarring that is largely mediated by host inflammation. While a robust immune response is required for clearance of the infection, certain elements of that immune response may also damage infected tissue, leading to, in the case of female genital infection, disease sequelae such as pelvic inflammatory disease, infertility and ectopic pregnancy. It has become increasingly clear that the components of the immune system that destroy bacteria and those that cause pathology only partially overlap. In the ongoing quest for a vaccine that prevents Chlamydia-induced disease, it is important to target mechanisms that can achieve protective immunity while preventing mechanisms that damage tissue. This review focuses on mouse models of genital Chlamydia infection and synthesizes recent studies to generate a comprehensive model for immunity in the murine female genital tract, clarifying the respective contributions of various branches of innate and adaptive immunity to both host protection and pathogenic genital scarring.

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生殖器衣原体感染的免疫发病机制：来自小鼠模型的见解

衣原体是致病性细胞内细菌，可在全球范围内引起多种疾病，影响眼睛、肺、冠状动脉和女性生殖道。衣原体感染通常不是通过直接的细胞毒性，而是通过诱导主要由宿主炎症介导的纤维化和瘢痕形成引起病理学。虽然清除感染需要强大的免疫反应，但该免疫反应的某些因素也可能损害受感染的组织，在女性生殖器感染的情况下，会导致疾病后遗症，如盆腔炎、不孕症和异位妊娠。越来越清楚的是，免疫系统中破坏细菌的成分和引起病理的成分只是部分重叠。在对预防衣原体引起的疾病的疫苗的持续探索中，重要的是针对可以实现保护性免疫的机制，同时防止损害组织的机制。这篇综述着重于生殖器衣原体感染的小鼠模型，并综合了最近的研究，以生成小鼠雌性生殖道免疫的综合模型，阐明先天免疫和适应性免疫的各个分支对宿主保护和致病性生殖器瘢痕形成的各自贡献。