SEROLOGICAL EVIDENCE OF AN ASSOCIATION BETWEEN CHLAMYDIAL INFECTIONS AND MALIGNANT-LYMPHOMAS

Chronic infections may predispose to malignant growth. Recently, serol ogical markers of chronic Chlamydia pneumoniae infection have been ass ociated with lung cancer. Our aim was to study the possible associatio n between chronic chlamydial infections and malignant lymphomas. The p resent case-control study involved 72 patients with lymphoma (31 femal es and 41 males) and matched controls, 53 patients had non-Hodgkin's l ymphoma (NHL) and 19 had Hodgkin's disease. The sera, collected at the time of diagnosis, were tested for IgG antibodies and immune complexe s to C. pneumoniae and C. trachomatis by a microimmunofluorescence met hod and ELISA and for IgG antibodies and immune complexes to Helicobac ter pylori by ELISA. The serological markers suggesting chronic chlamy dial infection were associated with malignant lymphoma. The associatio n was most evident for the presence of C, pneumoniae-specific immune c omplexes in NHL (OR = 7.3, 95% CI 2.2-25) and appeared to be limited t o men. No association between H. pylori antibodies or immune complexes and malignant lymphomas could be demonstrated. Our study provides ser oepidemiological evidence of an association between chronic chlamydial infections and lymphomas.