ISSN:
1471-0528
Source:
Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005
Topics:
Medicine
Notes:
Objective To establish the prevalence of Chlamydia pneumoniae (C. pneumoniae) infection in a pregnant UK population and to investigate whether C. pneumoniae infection is more common in women with a previous history of pre-eclampsia.Design Prospective study.Setting Academic Hospital.Population Ninety-one pregnant women (54 parous and 37 nulliparous) at 16–22 weeks of gestation were studied. Of the parous women, 32 had a previous history of pre-eclampsia.Methods Peripheral blood was drawn for C. pneumoniae antibodies between 16–22 and 28–40 weeks of gestation. C. pneumoniae antibodies were measured using a solid-phase enzyme immunoassay. According to pregnancy outcome, women were categorised into normal, gestational hypertension and pre-eclampsia groups.Main outcome measures Serum levels of IgG, IgA and IgM C. pneumoniae antibodies.Results Prevalence of seropositivity to C. pneumoniae was 77%. Parous women had significantly higher levels of IgA and IgM C. pneumoniae antibodies than nulliparous women (P 〈 0.04). Parous women with previous pre-eclampsia were found to have higher levels of antibodies than parous women with a normal obstetric history (P≤ 0.003). There was no difference in the antibody levels in women with different pregnancy outcomes.Conclusions The longitudinal data do not indicate an association between C. pneumoniae infection and pre-eclampsia. However, the subgroup analysis of parous women demonstrated raised C. pneumoniae antibodies in the women with previous pre-eclampsia, and therefore suggests that there may be an association between C. pneumoniae and the disease in this group.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-0528.2004.00423.x
Permalink
