CHLAMYDIA-PNEUMONIAE STRAIN TWAR ANTIBODY AND ANGIOGRAPHICALLY DEMONSTRATED CORONARY-ARTERY DISEASE

A recent case-control study from Finland reported a strong association between high antibody titers to Chlamydia pneumoniae, strain TWAR, and both chronic coronary heart disease and acute myocardial infarction. The current case-control study investigated the relation between C. pneumoniae immunoglobulin G antibody titers and angiographically diagnosed coronary artery disease. Cases (n = 461) were angiography patients with at least one coronary artery lesion occupying at least 50% of the luminal diameter. Controls (n = 95) were angiography patients with no demonstrable coronary artery disease. After standardization for age and gender, the geometric mean antibody titer was higher for cases than for controls (30.0 versus 24.0, p = 0.04). The estimated risk of coronary artery disease, adjusted for age and gender, was greater among subjects with high (less-than-or-equal-to 1 : 64) antibody titers than among subjects with low (less-than-or-equal-to 1 : 8) antibody titers (relative risk, 2.0; 95% confidence interval, 1.0-4.0). The risk associated with a high antibody titer was particularly great for coronary artery disease with five or more lesions (relative risk, 2.8; 95% confidence interval, 1.2-7.0). The results of this cross-sectional study support an association between infection with C. pneumoniae and coronary artery disease.