Chlamydia pneumoniae is a risk factor for coronary heart disease in symptom-free elderly men, but Helicobacter pylori and cytomegalovirus are not

Abstract

To test the hypothesis that chronic infection with Chlamydia pneumoniae, Helicobacter pylori or cytomegalovirus is associated with coronary heart disease risk in elderly men, a nested case-control study in a cohort investigated in 1985 and 1990 in the town of Zutphen, The Netherlands, was designed. Fifty-four cases with a first diagnosed coronary event between 1985 and 1990, and 108 age-matched control subjects free of coronary heart disease during follow up were included in the study. The overall prevalence of antibodies to cytomegalovirus was 74.7%, to H. pylori 75.9% and to C. pneumoniae 84.0%. A high level of antibodies to C. pneumoniae was associated with an increased coronary heart disease risk (OR = 2.76; 95% CI = 1.31-5.81). This association was stronger in cases developing both myocardial infarction and angina pectoris, than in cases developing only one of these. This association was independent of potential confounders. Antibodies to cytomegalovirus or H. pylori were not associated with coronary heart disease risk. These results support the hypothesis of a role of chronic C. pneumoniae infections in the immunopathogenesis of atherosclerosis.

Independent and Joint Effects of Antibodies to Human Heat-Shock Protein 60 and Chlamydia pneumoniae Infection in the Development of Coronary Atherosclerosis

“…15,17 Our findings are in accord with those data on elevated Cpn seropositivity in patients with CAD, and the results obtained by detection of CMV-IE1 antibodies are also consistent with those findings.…”

“…A few studies have assessed antibodies to multiple pathogens, including CMV and Cpn, [15][16][17] or to Cpn and HSPs 18 in the same individuals. In the present study, we measured antibody levels against Cpn, CMV-IE1, and hHSP60 in the same case/control population to further examine the potential combined effects of these factors in the development of atherosclerotic disease.…”

Role of Infectious and Immune Factors in Coronary and Cerebrovascular Arteriosclerosis

“…Dis. 11:106, 2001), whereas others did not (16,26,29,47,77). Further studies found an association, adequately explained by the much stronger association of H. pylori infection with age, male gender, and social class, which are linked with coronary heart disease (68,87,95).…”

Early prognosis of unstable angina patients with positive Helicobacter pylori IgG values

“…This study found association between heart disease and C. Pneumoniae only but not with H.pylori 18 . Similarly, several others studies also have reported lack of association between Acute coronary syndromes and H. pylori infection 19,20,21,22 . Rahime Eskandarian et al in a prospective study showed that H. pylori infection has no effect on short term prognosis of patients with ACS 23 .…”