title: High frequency of Chlamydophila pneumoniae infections: patients with peripheral arterial disease and those with risk factors for cardiovascular diseases compared to normal subjects.
abstract: The role of bacterial infections, mainly Chlamydophila pneumoniae, on atherosclerotic processes as well as the therapeutic utility of additional antibiotic treatment is still an open question. In this study we compared the serological profiles of 160 patients (80 with peripheral arterial disease (PAD), diagnosed with an ankle/brachial index (ABI) ≤ 0.9 and 80 with risk factors for cardiovascular disease - CVD) with those of 80 healthy subjects, serum levels of specific C. pneumoniae antibodies using the microimmunofluorescence test. Our results show that PAD patients had a higher frequency of C. pneumoniae infection than those with risk factors for cardiovascular disease. This frequency was lower if compared to the previous two groups in controls. 44 out of the 80 (55%) patients with PAD and 34 out of the 80 (42.58%) subjects with risk factors for cardiovascular disease were seropositive while only 24 of the 80 (30%) healthy subjects showed seropositivity to C. pneumoniae. Furthermore, higher anticorpal titers were also found in patients with peripheral arterial disease and in patients with cardiovascular risk factors if compared to healthy subjects. On the basis of these results, we confirm that C. pneumoniae infection is frequent in peripheral arterial disease patients and we believe that it could be considered as an additional risk factor involved in the pathogenesis of this disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Systemic Diseases, University of Catania - Italy. ssignore@unict.it
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Signorelli
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stivala
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bonaccorso
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Anzaldi
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Fiore
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Simili
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Neri
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Garozzo
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tempera
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Nicoletti
mesh_terms: D055109:Ankle Brachial Index / Q000379:methods; D000906:Antibodies / Q000276:immunology; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000382:microbiology; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology*; D023521:Chlamydophila Infections / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology*; D016993:Chlamydophila pneumoniae / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D058729:Peripheral Arterial Disease / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D012698:Serologic Tests / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D000906:Antibodies; D007074:Immunoglobulin G