Role of Infectious and Immune Factors in Coronary and Cerebrovascular Arteriosclerosis

The prevalence of HIV among patients admitted with stroke at the Muhimbili National Hospital, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

“…It would therefore appear that other possible theories play some roles. These include cardiac embolism secondary to cardiomyopathy, meningitis (Cosnett, 1969;Bahemuka, 1979;Kumwenda et al, 2005), non-bacterial thrombotic endocarditis and opportunistic central nervous infections like toxoplasmosis, cryptococcal meningitis and tuberculosis, as well as elevated systemic inflammation leading to atherosclerosis (Stollberger & Finsterer, 2002). It could also be through HIV induced vascular damage resulting into a coagulopathy by induction of autoantibodies and protein S deficiency (Mochan et al, 2005).…”

“…The common causes of cerebral infarction in these patients are non-bacterial thrombotic endocarditis and opportunistic central nervous infections like toxoplasmosis, cryptococcal meningitis and tuberculosis (Brew, 1993). Others have suggested that HIV patients have elevated systemic inflammation making them prone to atherosclerosis (Stollberger & Finsterer, 2002).…”

Can a chronic dental infection be considered a cause of cardiovascular disease? A review of the literature

“…CHD acute events are usually precipitated by thrombosis occurring at the site of atherosclerotic lesion disruption. Some CV risk markers, such as low-grade chronic inflammation, play a role in the pathogenesis of the disease [2,3]. Recently, bacterial and viral organisms involved in chronic inflammatory processes have also been examined [4].…”

Relationship between Chlamydia pneumoniae infection, inflammatory markers, and coronary heart diseases

“…Recently, chronic C. pneumoniae infection has been associated with cardiovascular disease by seroprevalence studies and by the direct detection of the organisms within atheromatous plaques and by animal, immunological and antibiotic interventional studies [2][3][4][5][6][7].…”

“…Thus, C. pneumoniae infection may be a potential risk factor for atherosclerosis since the microorganism was shown to induce human macrophage foam cell formation and monocyte oxidation of low-density lipoprotein (LDL). Atherosclerotic plaques consist of a fibrous cap overlying a lipid-rich core that grows and changes also through the secretion of cytokines such as gamma Interferon (IFNg), Interleukin 1 (IL-1), IL-7 and extracellular matrixdigesting enzymes such as metalloproteinases [6]. In particular, IL-7, a pleiotropic cytokine that is involved in the regulation of T lymphocyte proliferation and the activation of monocytes and natural killer cells that lead to an enhanced production of inflammatory cytokines [9].…”