Detection of Chlamydia pneumoniae within peripheral blood monocytes of patients with unstable angina or myocardial infarction

Because individual diagnoses of vascular infection with Chlamydia pneumonia e depend entirely on surgically removed tissues, a better assay to predict vascular infection is needed. Polymerase chain reaction detection of chlamy dial DNA was applied to CD14-positive cells collected from 238 patients wit h angiographically identified unstable angina or acute myocardial infarctio n, C. pneumoniae was detected in 52 (28%) of 188 persons with unstable angi na and in 13 (26%) of 50 persons with myocardial infarction. Differences be tween groups were not significant. C. pneumoniae is present in monocytes/ma crophages of a significant proportion of persons with progressive coronary artery disease. Infarction is not accompanied by a rise in chlamydial detec tion rates. The potential role of chlamydiae in coronary atherosclerosis ma y therefore be more related to acceleration of disease or systemic effects by persistent infection than to sudden initiation of infarction by acute in fection.