BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE All studies reporting high numbers of Chlamydia pneumoniae DNA positives in stroke patients published to date have used polymerase chain reaction (PCR) techniques highly prone to generate false-positive results. The aim of this study was to analyze the prevalence of C. pneumoniae DNA in plaques of the carotid artery as well as in peripheral blood by means of a new, closed...

BACKGROUND It has not yet been determined whether lipid-loaded macrophages (foam cells), a major cellular component of atherosclerotic lesions, have the capacity to support growth of Chlamydia pneumoniae and be activated to secrete proinflammatory cytokines in response to C pneumoniae infection. METHODS AND RESULTS Lipid loading of RAW 264.7 cells and mouse peritoneal macrophages with either ...

AIMS The atherogenic actions of Chlamydia pneumoniae (C. pneumoniae), a common respiratory pathogen, are dependent upon a high-cholesterol environment in vivo. It is possible that oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL) is responsible for promoting the atherogenic effects of C. pneumoniae through a stimulation of cell proliferation. This study determined whether oxLDL can enhance the mitogenic...

We compared the activity of gatifloxacin, a new quinolone, ofloxacin and erythromycin against five isolates of Chlamydia trachomatis and 20 isolates of Chlamydia pneumoniae, including TW183 and clinical isolates from the USA and Japan. Testing was done in cycloheximide-treated HEp-2 cells. Gatifloxacin was slightly less active against C. trachomatis and slightly more active against C. pneumonia...

The koala biovar of Chlamydia pneumoniae was identified in lung tissue from a sick, free-ranging giant barred frog (Mixophyes iteratus) by using electron microscopy, C. pneumoniae-specific fluorescent-antibody staining, cell culture, and sequencing of the ompA, ompB and 16S rRNA genes. This is the first report of a chlamydial strain infecting both a homeotherm and a poikilotherm and only the fo...

The TWAR organism was described as a cause of respiratory infection in 1986.1 In 1989, it was declared a new species of Chlamydia and named Chlamydia pneumoniae.2 In 1988, Saikku et al3 reported a small seroepidemiological study suggesting a possible association between TWAR infection and atherosclerosis. Information on the association of C pneumoniae and atherosclerosis has accumulated rapidly...

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES Coronary artery disease has been related to infection by Chlamydia pneumoniae even only in a few studies the association between presence of antibodies to this microorganism and the prognosis of patients with ischemic heart disease has been assessed. The objective of our study was to assess the impact of positivity of anti-Chlamydia pneumoniae antibodies in the morbi...