[Association between carotid atherosclerosis, inflammatory markers and Chlamydia pneumoniae infection]

The aim of this study was to assess the correlation between morphological markers of carotid atherosclerosis, such as intima-media thickness (IMT) and the cross-sectional plaque area with markers of inflammation and C. pneumoniae infection.

The study involved a group of 128 persons (63 females, 49.2%), including 54 atherothrombotic stroke patients. The IMT and cross-sectional plaque area of common and internal carotid arteries were measured by ultrasonography. We assessed the C-reactive protein (CRP) and fibrinogen blood level, white blood cell (WBC) count, levels of IgA and IgG antibodies against C. pneumoniae , additionally the presence of C. pneumoniae DNA in WBCs was detected by PCR. We also considered the following risk factors: hypertension, diabetes, obesity and smoking.

The multiple regression analysis showed the strongest and independent correlations of WBC with the IMT (r=0.32; p=0.0003) and plaque area (r=0.24; p=0.008) increase. Also other factors, such as smoking (r=0.19; p=0.026), hypertension (r=0.18; p=0.023) and CRP concentration (r=0.17; p=0.036) showed a significant correlation with carotid IMT. C. pneumoniae -specific IgG antibodies level showed a significant correlation with IMT only in the linear regression analysis, but not in the multiple regression analysis. C. pneumoniae DNA presence results did not reveal a significant correlation with either IMT or the carotid plaque area.

Inflammatory markers, especially the WBC count and CRP level, showed an independent and stronger correlation with carotid atherosclerosis than markers of C. pneumoniae infection.