{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,4]],"date-time":"2026-06-04T10:41:15Z","timestamp":1780569675942,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":29,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,15]],"date-time":"2025-11-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1763164800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research","award":["22K08614"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["22K08614"]}]},{"name":"Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research","award":["24K10225"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["24K10225"]}]},{"name":"Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research","award":["24K11646"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["24K11646"]}]},{"name":"Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research","award":["20590461"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["20590461"]}]},{"name":"The Association for Research on Lactic Acid Bacteria"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Pathogens"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Chlamydia trachomatis infection causes pelvic inflammatory disease and infertility, but how host immune factors control pathogen clearance or pathology is not fully understood. Using a mouse model of genital tract infection with Chlamydia muridarum, we examined the role of CD1d-restricted Natural killer T (NKT) cells. Invariant NKT cell-deficient mice (J\u03b118\u2212\/\u2212) showed prolonged vaginal shedding of infectious elementary bodies (EBs), delayed clearance, and decreased early cytokine production compared to wild-type (WT) controls. Conversely, CD1d\u2212\/\u2212 mice, which lack both invariant and diverse NKT cells, did not show significant differences in vaginal shedding compared to WT mice. Surprisingly, both NKT-deficient mice (J\u03b118\u2212\/\u2212 and CD1d\u2212\/\u2212) produced higher levels of inflammatory cytokines in the oviduct at day 35 post-infection (p.i.) and experienced more frequent upper genital tract pathology (hydrosalpinx) at day 80 p.i. However, no infectious EBs were recovered from the oviducts or uterine horns of NKT-deficient mice after day 35 p.i. Cortisone acetate reactivated infectious shedding in chronically infected NKT-deficient mice at day 100 p.i. These findings highlight distinct roles for NKT cell subsets: invariant NKT cells promote early clearance via rapid cytokine production, while the broader NKT population helps limit tissue damage. Targeting NKT pathways could help prevent chronic infection and infertility.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/pathogens14111166","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,17]],"date-time":"2025-11-17T10:24:58Z","timestamp":1763375098000},"page":"1166","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Invariant and Diverse NKT Cells Regulate Bacterial Clearance and Pathology in Chlamydial Genital Tract Infection in Mice"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8696-4959","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kazunari","family":"Ishii","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Fukuoka University, Fukuoka 814-0180, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Toshinori","family":"Soejima","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Fukuoka University, Fukuoka 814-0180, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yoshiki","family":"Ohnishi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Fukuoka University, Fukuoka 814-0180, Japan"},{"name":"Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Faculty of Medicine, Fukuoka University, Fukuoka 814-0180, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ryo","family":"Ozuru","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Fukuoka University, Fukuoka 814-0180, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9487-5566","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ryota","family":"Itoh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Fukuoka University, Fukuoka 814-0180, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3310-3359","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Bin","family":"Chou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Fukuoka University, Fukuoka 814-0180, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Michinobu","family":"Yoshimura","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Fukuoka University, Fukuoka 814-0180, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2691-2297","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Akinori","family":"Shimizu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Fukuoka University, Fukuoka 814-0180, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yusuke","family":"Kurihara","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Fukuoka University, Fukuoka 814-0180, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4178-8661","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Atsuhiko","family":"Sakamoto","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Fukuoka University, Fukuoka 814-0180, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3496-6087","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kenji","family":"Hiromatsu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Fukuoka University, Fukuoka 814-0180, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,15]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Rodrigues, R., Sousa, C., and Vale, N. 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