High prevalence of Chlamydia pneumoniae seropositivity in Mexican patients with ischemic heart disease.
BACKGROUND
Risk factors for development of atherosclerosis, such as hyperlipidemia, high blood pressure, smoking habit, and diabetes mellitus, have been identified. The possibility that infectious agents may unchain biological and biochemical reactions related to inflammation, atherogenesis, and vascular thromboses events have recently been described. Chlamydia pneumoniae has been associated with coronary artery disease in some seroepidemiology studies. Reports of this association are limited in the Latin American population; therefore, we conducted a case-control study to explore this issue in the Mexican population.


METHODS
Eighty nine patients with scintigraphic evidence of coronary artery disease compared with a control group of 105 individuals were analyzed. Serum levels of IgA, IgM, and IgG against Chlamydia pneumoniae were determined using enzyme immunoassay method in all subjects. Conventional risk factors were also analyzed.


RESULTS
High seroprevalence of IgA and IgG with no significant difference between the two groups was found. Prevalence of antibodies was as follows: IgA 56.2% (50/89 patients); IgG 66.3% (59/ 89 patients) in coronary artery disease group; IgA 56.2% (59/105 patients), and IgG 70.5% (74/105 patients) in control group. Among common risk factors for coronary artery disease, significant differences were found in males, in patients with diabetes, and in habitual smokers.


CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest a high prevalence of C. pneumoniae infection in the studied population. However, in this series seroprevalence was not evidently associated with coronary artery disease (CAD). To clarify the possible relation between C. pneumoniae and coronary atherosclerosis, additional studies must be performed.
Departamentos de Medicina Interna, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán, Mexico City, 14000 Mexico.
Judith
J
Meza-Junco
Aldo
A
Montaño-Loza
Lilia
L
Castillo-Martínez
Arturo
A
Orea-Tejeda
José M
JM
Remes-Troche
Ivonne
I
Villalobos-Zapata
Alfredo
A
Ponce-De León-Garduño
Juan
J
Calva-Mercado
D000368:Aged; D000906:Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D023521:Chlamydophila Infections / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology; D016993:Chlamydophila pneumoniae / Q000378:metabolism*; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000209:etiology / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008800:Mexico / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D017202:Myocardial Ischemia / Q000209:etiology / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals / Q000378:metabolism; D012307:Risk Factors; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D017256:Technetium Tc 99m Sestamibi / Q000378:metabolism
D000906:Antibodies; D008055:Lipids; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D017256:Technetium Tc 99m Sestamibi