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Association of raised titres of antibodies to Chlamydia pneumoniae with a history of pre‐eclampsia
Author(s) -
Goulis Dimitrios G.,
Chappell Lucy,
Gibbs Richard G.J.,
Williams David,
Dave Jitendra R.,
Taylor Paul,
De Swiet Michael,
Poston Lucilla,
Williamson Catherine
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
bjog: an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.157
H-Index - 164
eISSN - 1471-0528
pISSN - 1470-0328
DOI - 10.1111/j.1471-0528.2004.00423.x
Subject(s) - chlamydia , pregnancy , medicine , eclampsia , gestation , antibody , obstetrics , chlamydophila pneumoniae , immunology , population , chlamydiaceae , gynecology , biology , genetics , environmental health
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.