ABSTRACT
Chlamydia trachomatis genital infection is the most common of all the sexually transmitted diseases worldwide. The prevalence in Egypt was found to be five percent. Asymptomatic infection is common in males and may lead to many complications. Infection is also possibly implicated in idiopathic infertility. The aim of this study was to assess the role of Chlamydia trachomatis infection in idiopathic subfertile males in Alexandria, Egypt, and its impact on semen analysis parameters. Eighty male patients with idiopathic oligoasthenospermia and forty healthy males with proven fertility and normal seminal parameters were subjected to two tests: PCR for the detection of Chlamydia trachomatis DNA in the semen, and ELISA for the detection of Chlamydia trachomatis IgG and IgM in the serum. Four of the semen samples tested in infertile males were positive for Chlamydia trachomatis on PCR testing. Each control group had only two PCR positive results. There were two positive results in those patients for IgG tested in serum using ELISA. While in the two control groups, four and two cases were positive [X[2] = 3.48, p = 0.201 - non significant]. PCR Positive results total amounted to 5% of the entire studied population [X[2] =0.044, p = 0.97 - non significant]. No significant correlations could be made between idiopathic male infertility and the positivity of the tests carried out. In conclusion, Chlamydia trachomatis plays little or no role in the pathogenesis of idiopathic infertility in the male population of Alexandria