Microbiological Analysis of Atherosclerotic Plaques

Background: Cardiovascular disease is the most common disease in the many countries. Atherosclerosis is a cardiovascular inflammatory disease that causes tissue destruction and fibrosis in the long time. As well as, atherosclerosis is a very common illness and is a multifactorial process. A potential role of some infectious agents has been suggested in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. This study aimed to determine the presence of Enterobacter hormaechei, Chlamydia pneumonia, Mycoplasma pneumonia, Helicobacter pylori and Porphyromonas gingivalis DNA in the atherosclerotic plaques by simple PCR method and the study of association between the presence of bacterial DNA and atherosclerosis, clinical, and demographic features of patients. Methods: Twenty-eight patients with atherosclerotic diseases who had undergone coronary artery bypass grafting surgery were included. Cinna Pure DNA Kit was used for extraction of total bacterial genomes. The presence of bacterial DNA in endarterectomy specimens were detected by the PCR using 16S rRNA and conserved specific primers. The significant statistic association between presence of different bacterial DNA and clinical and laboratory features of included patients were evaluated by χ2 and Fisher’s exact tests. Results: H. pylori and C. pneumoniae DNA was detected in 4 out of 28 (14.3%) and 1 of 28 (3.6%) atherosclerotic plaques, respectively. DNA of M. pneumonia, E. hormaechei and P. gingivalis were not detected. There was no significant difference between the presence of bacterial DNA and clinical and demographic features of patients. Conclusion: The higher rate of H. pylori and C. pneumonia DNA in atherosclerotic plaques suggest that these pathogens may play an important role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis progression.

کلیدواژه ها:

Atherosclerosis ، Chlamydia pneumonia ، Helicobacter pylori