Cell-mediated immune response associated with Chlamydia pneumoniae infection in atherosclerotic patients

Chlamydia pneumoniae is an obligate intracellular bacterium that activates cell mediated immune responses; several investigations have demonstrated its strong implication in atherosclerosis. The main objective of our study was to explore the cell-mediated immune response to C. pneumoniae infection in patients with atherosclerosis by evaluating CD14, CD8 and CD4 expression. This investigation involved a total of 27 patients with atherosclerosis and 32 controls, among patients recruited to evaluate the association of C. pneumoniae with atherosclerosis. C. pneumoniae DNA was detected in PBMCs by nested PCR as described in our previous studies. CD4, CD8 and CD14 expression was measured by flow cytometry and data analysis was performed using FlowJo software. The results revealed an increase in MFI expression of CD4, CD8 and CD14 in Cpn DNA+ subjects among both patients and healthy subject controls (CD4 Cpn DNA+ = 829.11 vs. CD4 Cpn DNA- = 571.14; CD8 Cpn DNA+ = 1562 vs. CD8 Cpn DNA- = 699; CD14 Cpn DNA+ = 1513.83 vs. CD14 Cpn DNA- = 1170.70), with a statistically significant difference (p