Effect of prior exposure to Chlamydia pneumoniae, Helicobacter pylori, or cytomegalovirus on the degree of inflammation and one-year prognosis of patients with unstable angina pectoris or non–q-wave acute myocardial infarction

Inflammation and chronic infections may be important features in the pathogenesis of acute coronary syndromes. We describe 6 systemic markers of inflammation in patients with unstable angina or non–Q-wave myocardial infarction and the relations between these markers, seropositivity to chronic infections, and prognosis. C-reactive protein (CRP), serum amyloid A protein (SAA), fibrinogen, interleukin-6 (IL-6), neopterin, procalcitonin, and serum antibody levels to Chlamydia pneumoniae, Helicobacter pylori, and cytomegalovirus were measured on admission and 48 hours later. One-year clinical follow-up was performed. Plasma levels of acute phase reactants were all elevated on admission and increased further at 48 hours: CRP from 10.1 ± 2.1 mg/L at baseline to 26.6 ± 5.1 mg/L at 48 hours (p <0.001); SAA from 27.3 ± 8.5 to 93.1 ± 23.2 mg/dl (p <0.005); fibrinogen from 3.2 ± 0.1 to 3.8 ± 0.1 g/L (p <0.0001); whereas initial high levels of IL-6 tended also to increase from 9.8 ± 2 to 15.3 ± 3.1 pg/ml (p = NS). In contrast, neopterin and procalcitonin remained unchanged. We found no association between levels of each inflammatory marker and the serologic status. Furthermore, levels of inflammatory proteins in patients seronegative to all 3 agents were comparable to those of patients seropositive to 2 or 3 infectious agents. The composite end points of death, myocardial infarction, recurrent angina, or revascularization at 1-year follow-up did not differ according to the serologic status. Thus, in patients with acute coronary syndromes, the acute phase proteins increased over the first 2 days of hospitalization. This initial inflammatory reaction as well as the 1-year clinical outcome did not differ according to the initial serologic status of Chlamydia pneumoniae, Helicobacter pylori, or cytomegalovirus.