Chlamydia pneumoniaeinfection in HIV-positive patients: prevalence and relationship with lipid profile.

The aims of this study were to evaluate the prevalence and impact ofChlamydia pneumoniaeinfection in HIV-positive patients and to establish the relationship betweenC. pneumoniaeinfection and lipid profile.Detection ofC. pneumoniaewas by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) on Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells (PBMCs) collected from 97 HIV-positive patients. Samples were collected after overnight fast in EDTA-treated tubes. On the same day, patients were also tested for routine chemistry, HIV viral load, CD3, CD8 and CD4 cell counts and lipid profile [cholesterol, high-density lipoproteins (HDLs), low-density lipoproteins (LDLs) and triglycerides].The overall prevalence ofC. pneumoniaewas 39%. The prevalence ofC. pneumoniaewas inversely related to the CD4 lymphocyte count (P=0.03). In the naive group,C. pneumoniae-positive patients had both significantly higher HIV load (71 021±15 327 vs. 14 753±14 924 HIV-1 RNA copies/mL;P=0.03) and lower CD4 cell count (348.0±165.4 vs. 541.7±294.8;P=0.04) thanC. pneumoniae-negative patients. Moreover, treatment-naive patients withC. pneumoniaeinfection had significantly higher mean levels of cholesterol (185.3±56.2 vs. 124.8±45.9 mg/dL;P=0.01), triglycerides (117.2±74.7 vs. 68±27.6 mg/dL;P=0.04) and LDL (122.4±60.1 vs. 55.6±58 mg/dL;P=0.05) thanC. pneumoniae-negative patients.These data indicate that, in HIV-positive subjects,C. pneumoniaeinfection is relatively frequent and is associated with both low CD4 cell count and high HIV load. Furthermore,C. pneumoniaeappears to be associated with hyperlipidaemia and might therefore represent a further risk factor for cardiovascolar disease in HIV-positive patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]