Author:
VON HERTZEN L.,ALAKÄRPPÄ H.,KOSKINEN R.,LIIPPO K.,SURCEL H.-M.,LEINONEN M.,SAIKKU P.
Abstract
The prevalence of chronic Chlamydia pneumoniae infection
was
assessed in 54 patients with
established chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), 41 of these with
severe
COPD (group I), 13 with mild to moderate COPD (group II), and in 23 patients
with
community-acquired pneumonia (controls, group III). Specific IgG and IgA
antibody
levels and circulating
immune complexes (ICs) were measured in paired sera, and specific secretory
IgA
(sIgA) levels
in sputum specimens. A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test was used for
the
detection of C.
pneumoniae in sputum. According to our definite diagnosis criterion,
65% of
the COPD
patients showed evidence of suspected chronic C. pneumoniae infection
and
the prevalence was
still higher (71%) in patients with severe disease. The occurrence of specific
markers of
infection was invariably highest in patients with severe COPD, next-highest
in
patients with
mild to moderate COPD and lowest in pneumonia patients. The association
between COPD
and C. pneumoniae infection persisted after controlling for the
potential confounding factors.
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Subject
Infectious Diseases,Epidemiology
Cited by
97 articles.
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