Source: Circulation  |  Posted 10 years ago

[]Chlamydia pneumoniae[] appears to be associated with an increased risk of coronary artery disease and higher levels of certain atheroscelorosis markers.

Several strands of evidence suggest that []C pneumoniae[] might directly contribute to patient risk of developing atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease.

To further characterise the incidence of []C pneumoniae[] infection, researchers from Jagiellonian University, Cracow, Poland enrolled 76 patients with severe coronary artery disease on angiography as well as 81 controls with normal coronary circulation on coronary angiographies.

Based on IgG and IgA levels, 60.5 and 61.8 percent of patients, respectively, with coronary artery disease were seropositive for []C pneumoniae[]. This compared to 26.0 and 29.5 respectively among the healthy patients. The authors commented that further studies are needed to elucidate whether []C pneumoniae[] infection impacts on follow up following either surgery or angioplasty.

Moreover, plasma levels of interleukin-8, plasma fibrinogen, total cholesterol and triglycerides were significantly higher in patients with coronary artery disease compared to controls. C-reactive protein levels were also elevated, although the difference between patients and controls did not reach statistical significance.

The authors concluded that []C pneumoniae[] is associated with a significantly increased risk of coronary artery disease. []C pneumoniae[] infection may be associated with changes in serum lipids, C reactive protein and fibrinogen, which may account for the increased risk of atherosclerosis.