Influence of iron restriction on Chlamydia pneumoniae and C. trachomatis

Iron is an essential metabolite for pathogenic bacteria, and the specificity exhibited by bacteria for host-iron chelates may be correlated with host and tissue tropism. The effect of iron restriction on Chlamydia pneumoniae and C. trachomatis was studied by use of the iron-chelating compound deferoxamine. Growth of C. pneumoniae was inhibited much more than that of C. trachomatis and the effect of iron restriction largely depended on the cell line used for propagation. This might reflect differences in tissue tropism of the two chlamydial species. As iron levels are usually higher in men than in women, this might also be connected with the higher prevalence rate of C. pneumoniae antibodies in males, observed in all populations studied so far.