IMAJ | volume 12
Journal 7, July 2010
pages: 396-399
Summary
Background:
Clinical and epidemiologic features of coronary heart disease may not be explained solely by established risk factors. The role of infectious pathogens in the development and rupture of atherosclerotic plaques remains elusive but an association between Chlamydia pneumoniae, Mycoplasma pneumoniae and CHD[1] has been previously reported
Objectives:
To determine whether there is an association between mycoplasmal infections and CHD.
Methods:
We conducted a prospective cohort analysis of 150 consecutive hospitalized patients with CHD (85 with acute coronary syndrome and 65 admitted for unrelated reasons) and 98 healthy blood donors. Antibody titers for Mycoplasma pneumoniae, M. fermentans, M. hominis and Ureaplasma urealyticum were measured with the agglutination test or specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in all three groups of patients.
Results:
Analysis of the antibody titers did not reveal any significant difference in the presence of mycoplasmal antibodies between the patients with ACS[2], patients with known stable CHD hospitalized for non-CHD reasons, and healthy blood donors.
Conclusions:
Determination of specific antibodies did not reveal a significant association among different types of mycoplasmal infection and CHD.
[1] CHD = coronary heart disease
[2] ACS = acute coronary syndrome