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Chlamydophila pneumoniae is a species of Chlamydophila bacteria.[1][2][3]
It was until recently known as “Chlamydia pneumoniae”, and that name is used as an alternate in some sources.[4] In some cases, to avoid confusion, both names are given.[5] that infects humans and is a major cause of pneumonia.
C. pneumoniae has a complex life cycle and must infect another cell in order to reproduce and thus is classified as an obligate intracellular pathogen. In addition to its role in pneumonia, there is evidence associating C. pneumoniae with atherosclerosis and with asthma. The full genome sequence for C. pneumoniae was published in 1999.
C. pneumoniae also infects and causes disease in Koalas, emerald tree boa (Corallus caninus), iguanas, chameleons, frogs, and turtles.
The first known case of infection with C. pneumoniae was a case of sinusitis in Taiwan.
This atypical bacterium commonly causes pharyngitis, bronchitis and atypical pneumonia[6] mainly in elderly and debilitated patients but in healthy adults also.[7]
Chlamydia pneumoniae is a small bacterium (0.2 to 1 micrometer) that undergoes several transformations during its life cycle. It exists as an elementary body (EB) in between hosts. The EB is not biologically active but is resistant to environmental stresses and can survive outside of a host for a limited time. The EB travels from an infected person to the lungs of a non-infected person in small droplets and is responsible for infection. Once in the lungs, the EB is taken up by cells in a pouch called an endosome by a process called phagocytosis. However, the EB is not destroyed by fusion with lysosomes as is typical for phagocytosed material. Instead, it transforms into a reticulate body and begins to replicate within the endosome. The reticulate bodies must utilize some of the host’s cellular machinery to complete its replication. The reticulate bodies then convert back to elementary bodies and are released back into the lung, often after causing the death of the host cell. The EBs are thereafter able to infect new cells, either in the same organism or in a new host. Thus, the life cycle of C. pneumoniae is divided between the elementary body which is able to infect new hosts but can not replicate and the reticulate body which replicates but is not able to cause new infection.
C. pneumoniae is a common cause of pneumonia around the world. C. pneumoniae is typically acquired by otherwise healthy people and is a form of community-acquired pneumonia. Because treatment and diagnosis are different from historically recognized causes such as Streptococcus pneumoniae, pneumonia caused by C. pneumoniae is categorized as an “atypical pneumonia.”
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