title: Cytomegalovirus-Productive Infection Is Associated With Acute Coronary Syndrome.
abstract: Although an association between human herpesvirus (HHV) infection and atherosclerosis has been suggested, the data supporting such an association are controversial and, in most cases, are based on serological evidence or on the presence of cell-associated HHV DNA, which do not report about actual viral replication. We quantified the DNA of all 8 types of HHVs in plasma, in which their presence is evidence of viral replication.
  
  
  
  Using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, we evaluated the presence of HHV DNA in blood samples obtained at the time of hospitalization from 71 patients with acute coronary syndrome, 26 patients with stable coronary artery disease, and 53 healthy volunteers and in atherosclerotic plaques of 22 patients with peripheral artery disease who underwent endarterectomy. HHV-5 (cytomegalovirus [CMV]) was the only HHV with a level that was higher in acute coronary syndrome patients than in the control group and that correlated with the level of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein. The numbers of effector memory T cells positively correlated with the numbers of CMV genome copies in carotid arteries plaques, whereas the numbers of central memory T cells negatively correlated with CMV copy numbers.
  
  
  
  Of all HHV levels, only CMV was higher in patients with stable coronary artery disease and acute coronary syndrome than in the healthy group, and its load correlated with the level of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein. The level of CMV in atherosclerotic plaques correlated with the state of immunoactivation of lymphocytes in plaques, suggesting that the reactivation of CMV may contribute to the immune activation associated with the progression of atherosclerosis.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Atherothrombosis, Cardiology Department, Moscow State University of Medicine and Dentistry, Moscow, Russia.
authors.forename: Elizaveta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nikitskaya
authors.affiliation: Section on Intercellular Interactions, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD Laboratory of Atherothrombosis, Cardiology Department, Moscow State University of Medicine and Dentistry, Moscow, Russia margolil@mail.nih.gov asisiajka@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lebedeva
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Atherothrombosis, Cardiology Department, Moscow State University of Medicine and Dentistry, Moscow, Russia.
authors.forename: Oxana
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ivanova
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Atherothrombosis, Cardiology Department, Moscow State University of Medicine and Dentistry, Moscow, Russia.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Maryukhnich
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Atherothrombosis, Cardiology Department, Moscow State University of Medicine and Dentistry, Moscow, Russia.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shpektor
authors.affiliation: Section on Intercellular Interactions, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD.
authors.forename: Jean-Charles
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Grivel
authors.affiliation: Section on Intercellular Interactions, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD margolil@mail.nih.gov asisiajka@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Leonid
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Margolis
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Atherothrombosis, Cardiology Department, Moscow State University of Medicine and Dentistry, Moscow, Russia.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vasilieva
mesh_terms: D054058:Acute Coronary Syndrome / Q000821:virology*; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D016893:Carotid Stenosis / Q000821:virology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000821:virology; D003587:Cytomegalovirus / Q000235:genetics; D003586:Cytomegalovirus Infections; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000821:virology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D058226:Plaque, Atherosclerotic / Q000821:virology; D012372:ROC Curve; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D019562:Viral Load
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D002097:C-Reactive Protein
keywords: acute coronary syndrome; atherosclerosis; human herpesvirus; immune system; myocardial infarction; polymerase chain reaction; virus