Abstract
In a case-control study that included a total of 98 patients and 83 controls, the possible link between various pathogens and abdominal aortic aneurysms was investigated. For 68 patients with abdominal aortic aneurysm and age-matched controls, no differences were detected in the levels of immunoglobulin (Ig)A and IgG Chlamydiaceae and Chlamydophila pneumoniae antibodies. Patients with IgA titers positive for Chlamydophila pneumoniae showed progressive disease (defined as an annual increase of the aneurysm diameter of ≥0.5 cm) more frequently than patients with negative IgA titers (p = 0.046). Polymerase chain reactions performed to detect DNA for Chlamydophila pneumoniae, Chlamydia trachomatis, Chlamydophila psittaci, human cytomegalovirus, Borrelia burgdorferi and Helicobacter pylori in tissue specimens of 30 patients and 15 controls were negative. In summary, Chlamydophila pneumoniae may contribute to aortic aneurysm disease progression, but DNA of this and other pathogens was not found in patients’ specimens.
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Acknowledgments
The study was supported by the European Union (QLK-CT-2002-00882 and LSHB-CT-2005-512061), the Research Fund of the Austrian National Bank (no. 8825, no. 9715), the Tyrolean Research Fund (project no. 0404/121), the Ludwig Boltzmann Society, the Federal State of Tyrol, and the “Verein zur Förderung der Hämatologie, Onkologie und Immunologie,” Innsbruck, Austria. We wish to thank the technical assistants from the virological–serological laboratory for their helpful support.
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Falkensammer, B., Duftner, C., Seiler, R. et al. Lack of microbial DNA in tissue specimens of patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms and positive Chlamydiales serology. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 26, 141–145 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-006-0245-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-006-0245-5