Chlamydia pneumoniae Infection was Associated with Risk of Mortality from Coronary Heart Disease in Japanese Women but not Men: the JACC Study

抄録

Aim: To investigate the association between Chlamydia pneumoniae infection and mortality from coronary heart disease, a nested case-control study was conducted for 39,242 Japanese who participated in the JACC Study.
Methods: Immunoglobulin A and G titers of C. pneumoniae were measured in stored serum samples collected from 209 patients (113 men and 96 women) who subsequently died of coronary heart disease after 13-year follow-up; and 209 controls matched for gender, age (±5 years) and area of residence.
Results: After adjustment for high-sensitive CRP and other cardiovascular risk factors, the multivariate odds ratio (OR) of coronary heart disease for highest vs. lowest tertiles of IgA titers was 2.69 (95%CI, 1.00-7.20), p=0.049 for women and 0.58 (0.23-1.46), p=0.25 for men (p for interaction=0.03). A similar association was observed by high (++) vs. low (-/±) titers of IgA: multivariate OR was 4.09 (0.86-19.4), p=0.07 for women.
Conclusions: Since high IgA titers indicate persistent and repeated infection, such a state is associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease mortality for women.