(Circulation. 1999;99:2733-2736.)
© 1999 American Heart Association, Inc.
Clinical Investigation and Reports |
Relation Between Direct Detection of Chlamydia pneumoniae DNA in Human Coronary Arteries at Postmortem Examination and Histological Severity (Stary Grading) of Associated Atherosclerotic Plaque
From the Molecular Microbiology Group (M.T., M.E.W.) and Department of Pathology (P.J.G.), Southampton University Medical School (D.T., M.A.), Southampton, UK; Wessex Cardiothoracic Unit, Southampton General Hospital, Southampton, UK (Y.W.); and Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, London, UK (V.T.)
Correspondence to Dr M. Thomas, Molecular Microbiology, Level C, South Block, Southampton General Hospital, Tremona Rd, Southampton SO16 6YD, UK. E-mail mt{at}soton.ac.uk
Background—Numerous studies have suggested a link between Chlamydia pneumoniae infection, atherosclerosis, and coronary artery disease. However, it is still unclear whether C pneumoniae plays a causal role in the pathogenesis of these conditions. Accordingly, we have performed a systematic dissection of the 3 coronary arteries on 33 postmortem subjects and studied the relationship in individual artery segments between the presence of C pneumoniae DNA and the severity of associated atherosclerosis.
Methods and Results—The prevalence of C pneumoniae DNA in arterial segments was determined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) after controlling for the presence of PCR inhibitors. Atherosclerosis in each arterial segment was graded histologically with the Stary classification. C pneumoniae was detected by PCR in 78.8% of subjects, but there was no association between the presence of this DNA and cause of death or grade of atherosclerosis. When paired mild and severe atherosclerotic lesions within subjects were compared, mild lesions were as likely to be positive for C pneumoniae as severe lesions.
Conclusions—This study demonstrates that C pneumoniae can frequently be detected in atheromatous plaques in coronary arteries. However, its distribution did not correlate with severity or extent of disease.
Key Words: Chlamydia pneumoniae • atherosclerosis • coronary disease • infection
This article has been cited by other articles:
 |
|
 |
|
  R. Mitusch, J. Luedemann, W. G. Wood, K. Berger, U. Schminke, M. Suter, C. Kessler, U. John, J. Rupp, M. Kentsch, et al. Asymptomatic Carotid Atherosclerosis Is Associated With Circulating Chlamydia pneumoniae DNA in Younger Normotensive Subjects in a General Population Survey Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol, February 1, 2005; 25(2): 386 - 391. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 M. M. Ieven and V. Y. Hoymans Involvement of Chlamydia pneumoniae in Atherosclerosis: More Evidence for Lack of Evidence J. Clin. Microbiol., January 1, 2005; 43(1): 19 - 24. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 M. J. Zibaeenezhad, A. Amanat, A. Alborzi, and A. Obudi Relation of Chlamydia Pneumoniae Infection to Documented Coronary Artery Disease in Shiraz, Southern Iran Angiology, January 1, 2005; 56(1): 43 - 48. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
B. Maraha, H. Berg, M. Kerver, S. Kranendonk, J. Hamming, J. Kluytmans, M. Peeters, and A. van der Zee Is the Perceived Association between Chlamydia pneumoniae and Vascular Diseases Biased by Methodology? J. Clin. Microbiol., September 1, 2004; 42(9): 3937 - 3941. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
V. Y. Hoymans, J. M. Bosmans, D. Ursi, W. Martinet, F. L. Wuyts, E. Van Marck, M. Altwegg, C. J. Vrints, and M. M. Ieven Immunohistostaining Assays for Detection of Chlamydia pneumoniae in Atherosclerotic Arteries Indicate Cross-Reactions with Nonchlamydial Plaque Constituents J. Clin. Microbiol., July 1, 2004; 42(7): 3219 - 3224. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 Y. Agmon, B. K. Khandheria, I. Meissner, T. M. Petterson, W. M. O'Fallon, T. J. H. Christianson, D. O. Wiebers, T. F. Smith, J. M. Steckelberg, and A. J. Tajik Lack of association between Chlamydia pneumoniae seropositivity and aortic atherosclerotic plaques: A Population-Based transesophageal echocardiographic study J. Am. Coll. Cardiol., May 7, 2003; 41(9): 1482 - 1487. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 M. V. Kalayoglu, P. Libby, and G. I. Byrne Chlamydia pneumoniae as an Emerging Risk Factor in Cardiovascular Disease JAMA, December 4, 2002; 288(21): 2724 - 2731. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
P. Apfalter, O. Assadian, F. Blasi, J. Boman, C. A. Gaydos, M. Kundi, A. Makristathis, M. Nehr, M. L. Rotter, and A. M. Hirschl Reliability of Nested PCR for Detection of Chlamydia pneumoniae DNA in Atheromas: Results from a Multicenter Study Applying Standardized Protocols J. Clin. Microbiol., December 1, 2002; 40(12): 4428 - 4434. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 T. Vainas, H. A.J.M. Kurvers, W. H. Mess, R. d. Graaf, R. Ezzahiri, J. H.M. Tordoir, G.-W. H. Schurink, C. A. Bruggeman, and P. J.E.H.M. Kitslaar Chlamydia pneumoniae Serology Is Associated With Thrombosis-Related but Not With Plaque-Related Microembolization During Carotid Endarterectomy Stroke, May 1, 2002; 33(5): 1249 - 1254. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
M. L. C. Tondella, D. F. Talkington, B. P. Holloway, S. F. Dowell, K. Cowley, M. Soriano-Gabarro, M. S. Elkind, and B. S. Fields Development and Evaluation of Real-Time PCR-Based Fluorescence Assays for Detection of Chlamydiapneumoniae J. Clin. Microbiol., February 1, 2002; 40(2): 575 - 583. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
P. Lavallee, V. Perchaud, M. Gautier-Bertrand, D. Grabli, and P. Amarenco Association Between Influenza Vaccination and Reduced Risk of Brain Infarction Stroke, February 1, 2002; 33(2): 513 - 518. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 J. Boman and M. R. Hammerschlag Chlamydia pneumoniae and Atherosclerosis: Critical Assessment of Diagnostic Methods and Relevance to Treatment Studies Clin. Microbiol. Rev., January 1, 2002; 15(1): 1 - 20. [Abstract] [Full Text]
|
|
|
|
|
|
Y. Momiyama, R. Hirano, H. Taniguchi, H. Nakamura, and F. Ohsuzu Effects of interleukin-1 gene polymorphisms on the development of coronary artery disease associated with Chlamydia pneumoniae infection J. Am. Coll. Cardiol., September 1, 2001; 38(3): 712 - 717. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 A. Vink, M. Poppen, A. H. Schoneveld, P. J. M. Roholl, D. P. V. de Kleijn, C. Borst, and G. Pasterkamp Distribution of Chlamydia pneumoniae in the Human Arterial System and Its Relation to the Local Amount of Atherosclerosis Within the Individual Circulation, March 27, 2001; 103(12): 1613 - 1617. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
D. Sander, K. Winbeck, J. Klingelhofer, T. Etgen, and B. Conrad Enhanced Progression of Early Carotid Atherosclerosis Is Related to Chlamydia pneumoniae (Taiwan Acute Respiratory) Seropositivity Circulation, March 13, 2001; 103(10): 1390 - 1395. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
P. Apfalter, F. Blasi, J. Boman, C. A. Gaydos, M. Kundi, M. Maass, A. Makristathis, A. Meijer, R. Nadrchal, K. Persson, et al. Multicenter Comparison Trial of DNA Extraction Methods and PCR Assays for Detection of Chlamydia pneumoniae in Endarterectomy Specimens J. Clin. Microbiol., February 1, 2001; 39(2): 519 - 524. [Abstract] [Full Text]
|
|
|
|
|
|
D. Tontsch, B. Noll, J. R. Schaefer, M. Herzum, B. Maisch, and B. Goeke Hyperinsulinemia, Lipoprotein (a), and Chlamydia pneumoniae Antibodies--Are They Risk Factors or Serologic Predictors for Progression of Coronary Artery Disease? Angiology, October 1, 2000; 51(10): 831 - 836. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
R. H. Ring and J. M. Lyons Failure To Detect Chlamydia pneumoniae in the Late-Onset Alzheimer's Brain J. Clin. Microbiol., July 1, 2000; 38(7): 2591 - 2594. [Abstract] [Full Text]
|
|
|
|
|
|
J. Sinisalo, K. Mattila, V. Valtonen, O. Anttonen, J. Juvonen, J. Melin, H. Vuorinen-Markkola, M. S. Nieminen, and for the Clarithromycin in Acute Coronary Syndrome Effect of 3 Months of Antimicrobial Treatment With Clarithromycin in Acute Non-Q-Wave Coronary Syndrome Circulation, April 2, 2002; 105(13): 1555 - 1560. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|