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Thromb Haemost 2005; 93(06): 1153-1160
DOI: 10.1160/TH04-12-0782
Wound Healing and Inflammation/Infection
Schattauer GmbH

Relationship between peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD) and chronic Chlamydophila (Chlamydia) pneumoniae infection

A meta-analysis
José Gutiérrez
1   Department of Microbiology, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
,
Juan de Dios Luna
2   Department of Statistics, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
,
José Linares
3   Department of Surgery, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
,
María del Rosario Montes
1   Department of Microbiology, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
,
Emilia Quesada
1   Department of Microbiology, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
,
Almudena Rojas
4   Laboratorio Vircell, Granada, Spain
,
María José Soto
1   Department of Microbiology, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
,
Antonio Sorlozano
1   Department of Microbiology, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
› Author AffiliationsGrant support: This study was funded in part by grants from the Innovation, Science and Technology Department of the Regional Government of Andalusia (Research group CTS 521 for the study of infectious agents related to clinical processes of unknown cause), the University of Granada (Project for the detection of Chlamydophila pneumoniae in peripheral arterial disease- the role of the leukocyte), Vitro S. A., and Laboratoires Abbot-Pensa.
Further Information

Publication History

Received 07 December 2004

Accepted after resubmission 03 March 2005

Publication Date:
11 December 2017 (online)

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Summary

We carried out a meta-analysis of observational case-control studies published before May 2004 to assess the degree of association between Chlamydophila pneumoniae (Cp) infection and PAOD. A search of the Medline database was performed using atherosclerosis and "Chlamyd* pneumoniae" as keywords. Strict criteria were applied for the selection of case studies, which had to be studies of Cp seroprevalence or of Cp detection in patients versus controls. Forty-three published studies that met these criteria were selected. An association between PAOD and Cp was revealed by immunohistochemical analysis (OR=15.4, 95%CI=5.0–46.9) and nested PCR studies of arterial biopsies (OR=4.3, 95%CI=1.8–10), by PCR study of non-arterial samples (OR=2.9, 95%CI=1.2–7.0), by other direct-detection tests (OR=16.7, 95%CI=7.0–39.8), and by ELISA and MIF tests to detect high IgG (OR=2, 95%CI=1.1–3.5 and OR=1.7, 95%CI=1.0–2.9, respectively) and IgA (OR=1.9, 95%CI=1.1–3.4 and OR=1.5, 95%CI=1.1–2.0, respectively) titers. No significant association was found in simple PCR studies of arterial biopsies, MIF tests to detect low IgG titers or IgM, or ELISA studies to detect IgM. According to this review, the association between Cp infection and PAOD depends on the analytical method adopted. Establishing a relationship between Cp and PAOD will require a case-control study with an adequate number of cases and samples that uses a combination of direct and indirect techniques to identify the presence of the bacterium in different types of sample from the same subjects, correlating the results with the activity of the disease.

Keywords

Bacteria - atherosclerosis - clinical / epidemiological studies
 

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