Failure to detect Chlamydia pneumoniae in brain sections of Alzheimer's disease patients.
A recent North American study detected Chlamydia pneumoniae in 17 of 19 brains of Alzheimer's patients and supposed a C. pneumoniae infection to be a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD). In this study, we analyzed paraffin-embedded tissue samples of 20 AD patients by nested PCR and immunocytochemistry with a panel of antichlamydial antibodies and could detect neither C. pneumoniae-specific DNA nor chlamydial antigens. From our data, the presence of C. pneumoniae in the brains of Alzheimer's patients is not a common phenomenon; an association remains questionable.
Gieffers
J
J
Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, Medical University of Lübeck, D-23538 Lübeck, Germany. gieffers@hygiene.mu-luebeck.de
Reusche
E
E
Solbach
W
W
Maass
M
M
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000382:microbiology*; D001921:Brain / Q000382:microbiology*; D016993:Chlamydophila pneumoniae / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005260:Female; D005557:Formaldehyde; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016612:Paraffin Embedding; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016707:Tissue Fixation
D005557:Formaldehyde