Tc. Moazed et al., Chlamydia pneumoniae infection accelerates the progression of atherosclerosis in apolipoprotein E-deficient mice, J INFEC DIS, 180(1), 1999, pp. 238-241
Accumulating evidence supports an association between Chlamydia pneumoniae
infection and atherosclerosis, To determine whether there is a causal relat
ionship, the effects of chronic infection with C. pneumoniae on the develop
ment of atherosclerosis in apolipoprotein E (apoE)-deficient mice were eval
uated. Eight-week-old male apoE-deficient mice were inoculated intranasally
with C. pneumoniae three times, at 8, 9, and 10 weeks of age. The combined
area of atherosclerotic lesions in the lesser curvature of the aortic arch
was measured en face by computer-assisted morphometry, The lesion area was
2.4-fold greater (P = .05) at 16 weeks of age and 1.6-fold greater (P = .0
5) at 20 weeks of age in infected mice than in control mice. There were no
differences in total plasma cholesterol levels between groups. This study d
emonstrates that C. pneumoniae infection accelerates the progression of ath
erosclerosis in the aortic arch of apoE-deficient mice.