Prevalence of active infection with Chlamydia pneumoniae and human cytomegalovirus in patients with type II diabetes mellitus

By promoting the inflammatory process in the arterial wall, Chlamydia pneumoniae (CPN) and human cytomegalovirus (CMV) participate in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Since patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) are at high risk of CVD, we studied markers of CMV and CPN infection in DM patients as possible predictors of cardiovascular complications. The seroprevalence rates of CMV in 44 DM patients and matched controls were 74 and 88%, respectively. Compared with controls, patients showed lower titers of IgG against CMV (p < 0.001) and higher titers of genus-specific IgA against CPN (p = 0.006). The titers of genus-specific IgG and prevalence rates of type-specific anti-CPN IgA, IgG or IgM were similar in both DM patients and controls. Serological markers of either active or recent CPN infection were detected in 54 % of patients and 59 % of controls. However, CPN DNA was not detected in the blood of any DM patient. CMV DNA was found in the blood of 1 (2.3 %) patient. The results do not indicate an increased rate of CMV or CPN infection in patients with type II DM.