Antibiotic therapy for treatment of Chlamydia to prevent coronary heart disease events.
Evidence is mounting that infectious agents might be involved in atherosclerosis. Therefore, antibiotic therapy might be helpful in its prevention. Early pilot therapeutic trials have targeted Chlamydia pneumoniae because it has the most evidence associating it with atherosclerosis. Small, randomized pilot trials that test the effect of macrolide therapy on future clinical events in patients with coronary artery disease have already shown promising but mixed results. Large clinical trials are presently underway that should provide more definitive information regarding the use of antibiotics in coronary artery disease. Until the results of these studies are available, it is not recommended that antibiotic therapy be routinely utilized for the treatment or prevention of complications of atherosclerosis.
Muhlestein
J B
JB
Division of Cardiology, University of Utah, LDS Hospital, 8th Avenue & C Street, Salt Lake City, UT, 84143, USA. ldbmuhle@ihc.com
D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001161:Arteriosclerosis / Q000382:microbiology; D023521:Chlamydophila Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy; D016993:Chlamydophila pneumoniae / Q000502:physiology; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000382:microbiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D018942:Macrolides; D008297:Male
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D018942:Macrolides