How much do we as a general public know about sexually transmitted diseases and infections? We know we don't want them and they can be dangerous, but what makes them so dangerous? Some diseases are resistant to treatment because it mutates DNA. Chlamydia trachomatis is the leading cause of bacterial sexually transmitted disease all over the world. Over 90 million new cases of genital infections occur every year.
Damage to DNA
About 70 percent of women infected with Chlamydia have no symptoms and the bacteria can create chronic infections for months or, possibly, years. Even without symptoms, it can damage a woman's reproductive organs and research has shown that "Chlamydia infections can cause mutations in the host DNA by overriding the normal mechanisms by which their host prevents the unregulated growth of genetically damaged cells that pave the way for the development of cancer."
Chlamydia manipulates the host cell to favor its growth, unfortunately, the consequences of alterations on the fate of host cells remains an enigma. Chlamydia induces long-lasting effects on the genome and epigenome of their host cells which is evidence enough to link the infection with the development of cervical, ovarian, and possibly a whole host of other cancers.
Drugs Proving Ineffective
Standard antibacterial drugs are proving increasingly ineffective to completely eradicate the infection; Chlamydia goes into an asymptomatic chronic infection mode after a while. There are increased levels of DNA breaks in Chlamydia-infected cells as well as their DNA Damage Response being impaired, which leads to an error-prone repair of the DNA breaks, which is a potential cause of mutations.
Leading to Cancer
Despite the presence of widespread DNA damage, infected cells continue to generate, aided by pro-survival signals activated in the host cells by Chlamydia. On the other side of this ordered survival of the damaged cells is that they are more likely to evade the normal protocols that eliminate cells carrying mutations. This could be the first step to carcinogenesis of the infected cells, due to uncontrolled cell growth around the accumulating DNA damage which is a sure sign of cancer.
Test Smartly Labs offers a variety of DNA tests that can help you learn about your genetic profile. Contact one of our labs today at (816) 800-9699. We have four locations in the greater Kansas City area!
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