Helicobacter pylori heat shock protein 60 and risk of coronary heart disease: a case control study with focus on markers of systemic inflammation andlipids

Aim: it has been suggested that antibodies against heat shock proteins seem to be involved in the pathogenesis of coronary heart disease (CHD). We con ducted a case-control study to investigate whether antibodies against Helic obacter pylori heat shock protein 60 (hsp60) are associated with CHD, and f ocused specifically on markers of systemic inflammation and lipids. Methods :: all patients of German nationality aged 40-68 years who underwent corona ry angiography at the University of Ulm between October 1996 and November 1 997 and who had at least one coronary stenosis greater than 50% were includ ed in the study. Controls were sampled from voluntary blood donors and were matched for sex and age. H. pylori hsp60 was assessed by Western blot (H. pylori Westernblot, AID Co., Strassberg, Germany). In addition, C-reactive protein, fibrinogen, plasma viscosity, leukocytes, HDL-cholesterol and Lp(a ) were determined. Results : overall. 312 patients and 479 controls were en rolled in the study (response in patients 78%, in controls 84%). Whereas 25 .0 and 22.4% of the cases showed a hsp60 extinction of 100 or 20-99% (accor ding to the reference blot), respectively, only 21.3 and 14.8% of the contr ols did so (P = 0.004). The age and sex adjusted odds ratio (OR) for CHD wa s 1.53 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.14-2.06) given an extinction of 20-1 00% compared with an extinction of 0-19%. The OR for CHD decreased to 1.28 (95% CI 0.90-1.81) after further adjustment for other covariates. With exce ption of HDL-cholesterol (lowest in subjects with the highest hsp60 extinct ion) none of the investigated inflammatory markers was associated with the hsp60 distribution. Conclusion: a high H. pylori hsp60 extinction seems not to be an independent risk factor for CHD in this population. (C) 2001 Else vier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.