Multilocus VNTR analysis-ompA typing of venereal isolates of Chlamydia trachomatis in Japan

In this study, we investigated the prevalence of genital Chlamydia trachomatis isolated in Japan using a high-resolution genotyping method, the multilocus VNTR analysis (MLVA)-ompA typing method. Seventeen serotypes of C trachomatis standard strain (A-L3) and 44 clinical isolates were obtained from clinical settings. Genotyping of the ompA gene allowed clinical isolates to be divided into nine serotypes: B (6.8%), D (15.9%), E (25%), F (20.5%), G (18.1%), H (6.8%), la (2.3%), J (2.3%), and K (2.3%). These isolates were further divided into 28 types after combining ompA genotyping data with MLVA data (Hunter Gaston discriminatory index D, 0.949). Thus, our results demonstrated that MLVA could identify clinical isolates that could not be distinguished by ompA typing. (C) 2014, Japanese Society of Chemotherapy and The Japanese Association for Infectious Diseases. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.