Chlamydia pneumoniae seropositivity and early carotid atherosclerosis in a suburban Japanese population

To evaluate the association between Chlamydia pneumoniae (C. pneumoniae) infection and carotid atherosclerosis (CA), we investigated CA assessed by carotid B-mode ultrasound and known or suspected atherosclerotic risk factors including C. pneumoniae IgG and IgA antibodies in 2410 residents (mean age 54.5±13.6 years, 697 men) of a suburban Japanese town. CA was found in 30.1% of men and in 14.0% of women, IgG in 59.4% and in 51.4%, and IgA in 36.9% and in 32.4%, respectively. In univariate analysis, most conventional atherosclerotic risk factors and IgA antibody were significantly associated with CA in both sexes, but not IgG. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, independent risk factors for CA were confirmed with age and triglycerides (TG) in men and age, systolic blood pressure, pack-years of smoking, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) in women, but not IgG and IgA in either sex. These results do not support C. pneumoniae infection as an important risk factor for CA in this Japanese population.