Ureaplasma Infection and Reproductive Health

Overview

Topic status: We're looking for students to study this topic.

Ureaplasma species are the microorganisms most frequently associated with preterm labour and delivery and the female upper genital tract (UGT) may be chronically colonised with bacteria during pregnancy. Despite the high prevalence of Ureaplasma species in the UGT of pregnant women, it is not known why some women develop preterm labour in association with this microorganism while others do not. Variation of a surface exposed lipoprotein, the multiple banded antigen (MBA) within fetal tissues within a sheep model of infection, has previously been examined in honours projects. However, the effect of a secondary challenge with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) on the sheep fetus after a primary ureaplasma infection has not yet been investigated.

In this project, sheep fetal tissues will be cultured to quantitate the number of ureaplasma CFUs per gram of tissue or per mL of amniotic fluid using established ureaplasma techniques. Selected ureaplasma tissue isolates will be tested by PCR and by Western blot to determine the extent of variation in the multiple banded antigen gene (mba) and of the surface exposed antigen (MBA). Histology will be performed independently by a pathologist specialising in neonatal pathology. The student will also perform immunohistochemistry/confocal microscopy on selected tissues.

This project is part of larger studies undertaken in association with QUT, University of Western Australia and Cincinnati Children's Hospital.

Hypothesis: Variations in the acute and chronic inflammatory and immune responses of the host and the fetus after a secondary antigenic exposure will affect pregnancy outcomes.

Aim 1: Sheep experiments to evaluate acute and chronic intra-amniotic fetal inflammatory and immune responses to Ureaplasma parvum serovar 3 have already been performed. Tissue specimens collected from these experiments will be cultured, and the student will determine the inflammatory cell counts within tissues sections and perform immunohistochemistry assays.

Aim 2: To correlate variation of the mba and MBA with the extent of histological damage and the immunological responses of the fetus to determine if MBA variation is a indicator of the degree of inflammation and/or a predictor of pregnancy outcome.

Study level
Honours
Supervisors
QUT
Organisational unit

Science and Engineering Faculty

Research area

Cell and Molecular Biosciences

Contact

Please contact the supervisor.