Role of Chlamydia pneumoniae infection in Egyptian asthmatic patients

ABSTRACT

The role of respiratory infections in asthma is poorly understood. Chlamydia pneumoniae [C.pneumoniae] infection is claimed to be of importance for the development of asthma. This study was designed to investigate the role of Chlamydia pneumoniae infection in asthmatic patients in an attempt to understand its role in respiratory tract allergy. Forty adults and forty children with acute attack of asthma were included in our study in addition to ten healthy adults and ten healthy children as control group. Nasopharyngeal aspirates were taken from patients and controls and tested for the presence of Chlamydia pneumoniae by tissue culture and PCR. Six [15%] adult patients were positive by culture as well as PCR while two [5%] patients were positive by culture alone, in children, four [10%] patients were positive by both culture and PCR, only one [2.5%] patient was positive by culture alone. None of the control group gave positive result with culture or PCR. Taking chlamydia tissue culture as the reference method, the PCR sensitivity in adult group was 75% and in children 80% while the specificity in both groups was 100%. There is no statistically significant difference regarding the chlamydia positivity by culture and PCR between the patient group and the control group suggesting that C.pneumoniae may not play a significant role in the pathogenesis of asthma