Chlamydia pneumoniae resists antibiotics in lymphocytes.

Chlamydia pneumoniae infection of lymphocytes in blood has been well documented, and it is apparent that control of this pathogen in these cells may be critical in the development of chronic inflammatory diseases associated with infection by this bacterium. The activity of antibiotics against C. pneumoniae in lymphocytes was assessed in this study by utilizing an in vitro infection model with lymphoid cells. The results obtained indicated that although all of the antibiotics tested showed remarkable activity against bacterial growth in epithelial cells, C. pneumoniae in lymphocytes was less susceptible to antibiotics than was bacterial growth in epithelial cells, which are widely used for the evaluation of anti-C. pneumoniae antibiotics.