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Association of Chlamydia pneumoniae IgA antibodies with recently symptomatic asthma

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 May 2009

D. L. Hahn ,
T. Anttila  and
P. Saikku
D. L. Hahn*
Affiliation:
Dean Medical Center and the Dean Foundation for Health, Research and Education, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
P. Saikku
Affiliation:
National Public Health Institute, Department in Oulu, Finland Department of Microbiology, University of Oulu, Finland
*
* Correspondence and request for reprints: Dr. Hahn, Arcand Park Clinic, 3434 East Washington Avenue., Madison, WI 53704, USA.
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To determine whether recently diagnosed adult–onset asthma is associated with serologic evidence of chronic Chlamydia pneumoniae infection, we performed a case-control study in a primary care clinic of cases with asthma (25 adults reporting first symptoms of asthma within 2 years of enrollment) and 45 concurrently enrolled sex and age (±10 years) matched non-asthmatic controls with normal pulmonary function. C. pneumoniae-specific IgA, IgG and IgG4 antibodies, and circulating immune complexes (CIC) were measured by microimmunofluorescence testing. Results showed that frequencies of IgG litres > 16 (92%), IgG4 litres > 16 (20%) and CIC > 4 (60%) in asthma patients were not significantly different from those of controls. However, asthmatics had a significantly higher prevalence of C. pneumoniae-specific IgA litres > 10 (72% of cases vs 44% of controls, P < 0·05). After adjustment for the effects of age, sex and smoking, the odds ratio for an association of IgA and asthma was 3·7 (95% confidence interval 1·2–11·5). We conclude that recently symptomalic reversible airway obstruction in adults is associated with the presence of C. pneumoniae-specific IgA antibodies, a proposed indicator of chronic respiratory C. pneumoniae infection.

Type
Research Article
Information
Epidemiology & Infection , Volume 117 , Issue 3 , December 1996 , pp. 513 - 517
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

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