U.S. scientists are reporting a strong link between certain chlamydia infections and serious heart attacks in relatively young men.
Chlamydia pneumoniae is a lesser-known cousin to the sexually transmitted form of the disease, but far more widespread. It is transmitted through the air and causes a respiratory condition that sometimes progresses to pneumonia.
Researchers from the University of Wisconsin Medical School and Johns Hopkins University used the blood samples taken by the Army every two years to test for HIV from 300 who had been hospitalized for acute myocardial infarctions and 300 as a control group. Men with high rates of the antibodies had a higher rate of having a heart attack within five years of infection.
Bacterial infections may trigger inflammatory responses or autoimmune reactions that cause the build-up of atherosclerotic plaques and hardening of the arteries that eventually lead to heart attacks, co-author Javier Nieto said.
The presence of two anti-bodies, IgA and IgG, in blood indicates that someone is at risk, even long after the infection. Doctors could use this information to better-treat infected patients, Nieto said.
The study appears in the current issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases.
© Copyright 2005 by United Press International
