An association between an antibody against Chlamydia pneumoniae and ischemic stroke in elderly Japanese.
OBJECTIVE
Chlamydia pneumoniae (Cp) is an important pathogen for infections of the respiratory tract; recently, also a number of reports suggesting its relation to atherosclerosis. This study was performed to clarify the relation between Cp infection and ischemic stroke.


METHODS
Forty elderly patients with ischemic stroke (age 75 +/- 6.6; male 57.5%) and 85 elderly control subjects without a history of ischemic stroke (age 74 +/- 8.1; male 43.5%) were investigated.


METHODS
Patients were divided into four groups according to clinical diagnosis: 1) atherothrombotic infarction, 2) lacunar infarction, 3) those with cardiac embolism, and 4) non-classifiable. Cp infection was determined by measuring the anti-Cp IgG specific antibody level (Cp IgG index) using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELIZA) method. Those below the 1.10 Cp IgG index were determined as seronegative and those above 1.10 as seropositive.


RESULTS
We found that 20 cases (87.0%) of atherothrombotic infarction, 6 (66.7%) of lacunar infarction, 3 (50.0%) others and 52 (61.2%) control were Cp seropositive. Cp seropositiveness, as adjusted by multiple regression analysis using various known risk factors, was a significant independent contributing factor for ischemic stroke (p = 0.017) and was associated with an increased risk for atherothrombotic infarction (odds ratio, 12.6; 95% CI, 2.0-79.3).


CONCLUSIONS
This suggests that Cp infection is also an important risk factor for ischemic stroke, particularly atherothrombotic infarction in elderly Japanese.
Kawamoto
Ryuichi
R
Department of Internal Medicine, Nomura Municipal Hospital, Ehime.
Kajiwara
Takeshi
T
Oka
Yuichiro
Y
Takagi
Yaemi
Y
D000368:Aged; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D001161:Arteriosclerosis / Q000382:microbiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002544:Cerebral Infarction / Q000382:microbiology; D002690:Chlamydia Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D016993:Chlamydophila pneumoniae / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000032:analysis; D020766:Intracranial Embolism / Q000382:microbiology; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D020521:Stroke / Q000209:etiology / Q000382:microbiology*
D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D007074:Immunoglobulin G