Positivity of Chlamydia Pneumoniae Antibody and It's Significance in Atherosclerosis

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The relationship between infection of microorganism and atherosclerosis has been studied because the pathophysiology after infection is similar to those of cell injury and/or lipid theory. Although there are many reports which described the relationships between the infection of chalamydia pneumoniae and the atherosclerosis. In Korea, even the prevalence of chlamydia infection has not been studied yet. This study was purposed on the prevalence of chlamydia infection and it's correlation to atherosclerosis. METHODS: 235 subjects were enrolled and age and sex adjusted subjects were divided into two groups, normal controls (n=43), atherosclerosis (AS, n=90) groupcoronary artery disease (CAD, n=61) and cerebrovascular disease (CVD, n=29). Serum total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C) were measured, LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) was calculated. Serum IgG chlamydia antibody were measured by ELISA method. RESULTS: TG was significantly higher in AS (162.51+/-100.04 mg/dL vs 122.91+/-63.31 mg/dL, mean+/-SD, p=0.019), and HDL-C was significantly higher in controls (47.30+/-9.88 mg/dL vs 39.38+/-8.29 mg/dL, p0.01). Levels of LDL-C and TC were not statistical significant. Serum IgG chlamydia antibody was positive in 29.8% (70/235), 30% (27/90) in AS group and 28% in controls and there was no statistical significance between groups (p=0.804). CONCLUSION: In conclusion, there was no significant differences in positivity of IgG chlamydia antibody in AS compared with that of controls. Overall positivity of chlamydia antibody was lower in Korea than in other country. It is still controversial whether Chlamydia pneumoniae is a primary etiologic agent of atherosclerosis or not. This study could not demonstrate the relationship between chlamydia infection and atherosclerosis in Korea. The effectiveness and indications of antichlamydial antibiotics for prevention of cardiovascular complications in atherosclerosis and overall chlamydia infection in general population will be needed in large scale trials.