During the experiment, a single dose of the treatment prevented chlamydia infections 65 percent of the time. Photo by Maridav/Shutterstock

Feb. 6 (UPI) -- The most common sexually transmitted disease in the world may have finally met its match, as researchers say they developed a treatment to prevent chlamydia.

Researchers report in a study published this week in the journal Scientific Reports that one dose of their nanotechnology-delivered therapy prevented chlamydia infections 65 percent of the time.


The treatment uses nanotechnology to send gene therapy that prevents most of the bacteria from entering cells in the genital tract, and kills any that pierces a cell wall.

"As antibiotic resistance continues to develop, people may experience chlamydia infections that cannot be treated through conventional means, which is causing increasing public health challenges," Emmanuel Ho, a professor at Waterloo's School of Pharmacy and study author, said in a news release. "If left untreated or if treatment takes an extended period of time it can lead to infertility and other reproductive issues so finding new ways to treat this common infection is important."

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In 2016, chlamydia testing for women between ages 16 and 24 increased to 43 percent, up from 23 percent in 2001, {link:according to:"https://www.cdc.gov/std/stats17/chlamydia.htm" target="_blank"} the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2017, a total of 1.7 million chlamydial infections were reported to the agency.

"As the Food and Drug Administration in the United States has recently approved the first siRNA-based drug for market, we're hopeful this kind of research will be able to be widely available in the future," Ho said.

This new therapy allows siRNA to invade cells to decrease chlamydia's ability to create bonds.

"By targeting PDGFR-beta we're able to stop the creation of the protein that chlamydia will use to enter genital tract skin cells," Ho said. "As a result, an incoming infection has fewer targets to latch onto and infection is less likely to occur."