Is Chlamydia pneumoniae seropositivity associated with atherothrombotic cerebrovascular infarction?

Summary: Background and objective: Several studies suggested that Chlamydia pneumoniae (CP) infection may be a risk factor for cerebrovascular disease. Since these studies have reported controversial results, we performed this study to identify whether Cp-immunoglobulin was associated with atherothrombotic cerebrovascular infarction (ACI) in Iranian patients. Materials and methods: Forty-five patients admitted with ACI, and 45 control without ACI were enrolled in this case–control study. Using an enzyme-linked immunosorbed assay kit (ELISA), the presence of CP-immunoglobulin (CP-IgG) in studied patient's sera was determined. Results: The seroprevalence of CP-IgG was 35(77.7%) in the ACI group (mean age = 73.3 years) and 29(64.4%) in the control group (mean age = 70.1 years) (P > 0.05). There was no difference in sex, age, hypertension, smoking, hyperlipidemia, diabetes and obesity between cases and control groups (P > 0.05). No association was observed between CP seropositivity and ACI [OR: 1.95 (95% CI, 0.081–2.03), P = 0.16]. Conclusion: Our finding suggests that there is no association between ACI and positive CP-IgG in Iranian patients. Keywords: Atherotherombotic infarction, Chlamydia pneumoniae, Cerebrovascular disease, Ahva