Clinical study of chlamydia pneumoniae infection in patients with coronary heart disease

Abstract

Background This study aims to investigate the chlamydia pneumoniae infection (PC) in patients with coronary heart disease. Methods A total of 92 patients with coronary heart disease, who were treated with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), were selected as the case group. In addition, 50 healthy people were enrolled as the control group. The incidences of CP infection and serum Chlamydia pneumoniae IgA antibody (CP-IgA), high sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were compared in these two groups. The classification of coronary artery lesion, the incidence of perioperative cardiovascular events, and adverse prognosis events within six months after procedure were compared. Results The incidence of CP infection in the case group was higher (42.4% vs. 0%, P < 0.05). Furthermore, 17 patients were at grade I, 39 patients were at grade II, and 36 patients were at grade III. The incidences for these three kinds of patients were 17.6, 30.8, and 66.7%. The incidence of CP infection at grade III was higher than that of grade I or II ( P < 0.05). Serum CP-IgA, hs-CRP and IL-6 levels increased with the severity of the coronary artery disease ( P < 0.05), and the serum hs-CRP and IL-6 levels of patients with perioperative cardiovascular events were higher ( P < 0.05). Moreover, the serum CP-IgA levels of the patients with adverse prognosis events were also higher ( P < 0.05). Conclusions Patients with coronary heart disease have a high CP infection rate. The degree of infection is relevant to the severity of the coronary artery lesions and postoperative prognosis of patients, suggesting that CP infection may be an important factor affecting the incidence and prognosis of coronary heart disease.

Antibody, but not B‐cell–dependent antigen presentation, plays an essential role in preventing Chlamydia systemic dissemination in mice

“…Despite relatively rare clinical presentations, increasing evidence suggests that C. trachomatis infection causes diseases at remote tissues away from the initial mucosal portal of entry, such as arthritis in joints, Fitz-Hugh-Curtis syndrome in the peritoneal cavity, and chronic colonization in the gastroenteric tract [12][13][14][15][16][17]. Another species, Chlamydia pneumoniae, the etiologic agent for community-acquired pneumonia, is associated with exacerbation of cardiovascular diseases in both mouse models and clinical studies [18][19][20]. These findings suggest that despite mucosal epithelium tropism, Chlamydia infection in otherwise healthy individuals is likely under strict immune surveillance to prevent systemic spread.…”