Kaul R, Wenman W M
Section of Infectious Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, University of California Davis, CA 95616, USA.
Microb Pathog. 2001 Mar;30(3):149-55. doi: 10.1006/mpat.2000.0420.
Chlamydia pneumoniae has been linked to atherosclerotic heart disease. However, there is a limited knowledge by which C. pneumoniae gain access to atheromatous lesions. The adhesion of C. pneumoniae -infected circulatory component(s) to endothelium and smooth muscle cells represents the first step in an inflammatory response. We examined the ability of viable as well as heat inactivated C. pneumoniae to infect human monocytes and subsequently the ability of infected monocytes to adhere to human coronary artery endothelial cells (HCAEC) and human coronary smooth muscle cells (HCSMC). Our results demonstrate susceptibility of monocytes to in vitro chlamydial infection. Inclusions of varying sizes and intensities were observed 3-5 days after inoculation with viable C. pneumoniae. Monocytes infected with heat inactivated organisms revealed no inclusions, in keeping with the observations of uninfected monocytes. Moreover, monocytes infected with viable C. pneumoniae adhered preferentially to HCAEC and HCSMC, as compared to uninfected monocytes or monocytes harbouring heat inactivated Chlamydia.
肺炎衣原体已被证实与动脉粥样硬化性心脏病有关。然而，目前对于肺炎衣原体进入动脉粥样硬化病变的机制了解有限。肺炎衣原体感染的循环成分与内皮细胞和平滑肌细胞的黏附是炎症反应的第一步。我们研究了活的以及热灭活的肺炎衣原体感染人单核细胞的能力，以及感染后的单核细胞黏附于人冠状动脉内皮细胞（HCAEC）和人冠状动脉平滑肌细胞（HCSMC）的能力。我们的结果表明单核细胞对体外衣原体感染易感。接种活的肺炎衣原体后3 - 5天可观察到大小和强度各异的包涵体。感染热灭活病原体的单核细胞未发现包涵体，这与未感染单核细胞的观察结果一致。此外，与未感染的单核细胞或携带热灭活衣原体的单核细胞相比，感染活的肺炎衣原体的单核细胞更倾向于黏附HCAEC和HCSMC。
