[Chlamydia pneumoniae infection in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease].
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the association of chlamydia pneumoniae infection with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).


METHODS
61 patients with acute exacerbations of COPD, 35 patients with stable COPD and 26 healthy subjects were selected. Chlamydia pneumoniae-specific serum IgG, IgA, IgM antibodies were measured by microimmunofluorescence method. Chlamydia pneumoniae DNA in sputum were detected by nested polymerase chain reaction.


RESULTS
The prevalence of acute chlamydia pneumoniae infection in COPD patients with acute exacerbation was significantly higher (31.1%) than that in patients with stable COPD (P < 0.05) and in healthy subjects (P < 0.01). The prevalences of chronic chlamydia pneumoniae infection in COPD patients with acute exacerbations (21.3%) and stable COPD patients (31.4%) were higher than that in healthy subjects (P < 0.05) The level of geometric mean titer of the serum IgA antibodies was the highest in COPD patients with acute exacerbations (20.5), intermediately elevated in stable COPD patients (10.8) and lowest in healthy subjects (3.6).


CONCLUSIONS
Acute chlamydia pneumoniae infection is a rather frequent event in acute exacerbation of COPD, and chronic chlamydia pneumoniae infection may be involved in pathogenesis of COPD.
Duan
Z
Z
Department of Respiratory Disease, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang 050000, China.
Liu
S
S
Wang
B
B
D000208:Acute Disease; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D002690:Chlamydia Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology; D016993:Chlamydophila pneumoniae / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018410:Pneumonia, Bacterial / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D015995:Prevalence; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000150:complications*; D013183:Sputum / Q000382:microbiology
D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D004269:DNA, Bacterial