title: Influence of Chlamydia pneumoniae infection on aortic stiffness in healthy young men.
abstract: Though Chlamydia pneumoniae infection has been implicated in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, its role in early atherogenesis has not been well elucidated. To clarify whether C. pneumoniae infection was related to early atherogenesis, we evaluated the association between serological detection of C. pneumoniae antibodies and aortic stiffness in 102 healthy young male volunteers (mean age 27.1+/-0.4 years). Serum C. pneumoniae IgA and IgG antibodies were measured by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Aortic stiffness was estimated using the brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (PWV). No significant differences were observed between IgA seropositive and seronegative groups with regard to conventional cardiovascular risk factors. However, the mean PWV value was significantly higher in the IgA seropositive group than the seronegative group. Analyses of subgroups according to C-reactive protein (CRP) level showed that those subjects with IgA seropositivity and a high CRP level (>0.17 mg/l) had the highest PWV values. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that a combination of C. pneumoniae IgA seropositivity and a high CRP level was an independent predictor of high values of PWV. These results suggest that C. pneumoniae infection might contribute to early atherogenesis, which might be associated with chronic inflammation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Internal Medicine, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Hiroshima University, 1-2-3 Kasumi Minami-ku, Hiroshima 734-8551, Japan. ntasaki@hiroshima-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Naohito
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tasaki
authors.forename: Masamitsu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nakajima
authors.forename: Hideya
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.forename: Michinori
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Imazu
authors.forename: Tomokazu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Okimoto
authors.forename: Masaya
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Otsuka
authors.forename: Yoshito
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shimizu
authors.forename: Nobuoki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kohno
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000888:Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic; D001018:Aortic Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis; D001161:Arteriosclerosis / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity / Q000502:physiology; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D023521:Chlamydophila Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016993:Chlamydophila pneumoniae; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood; D003971:Diastole / Q000502:physiology; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007070:Immunoglobulin A; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D018410:Pneumonia, Bacterial / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications / Q000382:microbiology; D012016:Reference Values; D012907:Smoking; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D013599:Systole / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D000888:Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic; D015415:Biomarkers; D007070:Immunoglobulin A; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D002097:C-Reactive Protein; D002784:Cholesterol