Permanent atrial fibrillation in patients without structural heart disease is not associated with signs of infection by Chlamydia pneumoniae and Helicobacter pylori.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study was to explore the role of Chlamydia pneumoniae and Helicobacter pylori infections in patients with idiopathic permanent atrial fibrillation.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Sera from 72 patients with permanent atrial fibrillation without structural heart disease (mean age 69.6 years, 23 women) were analysed for IgG antibodies against Chlamydia pneumoniae and Helicobacter pylori and compared in a I:I age- and sex-matched case:control manner with those pooled from a healthy reference population of 72 individuals from the same geographical area. After excluding patients with other possible or definite factors known either to cause atrial fibrillation or to affect the prevalence of seropositivity to these agents, the frequency of seropositivity due to one or both of the infectious agents was compared. Serum C-reactive protein (CRP) level was assessed using immunoturbidimetry technique. Both agents were equally common in men and women. Neither seropositivity to Chlamydia pneumoniae (76% vs. 83%, patients vs. control subjects, ns) nor to Helicobacter pylori (57% contra 55%, patients vs. controls, ns) alone reached significance in the comparisons between patients with atrial fibrillation and control subjects. Serum CRP was higher in patients with AF (5.3 mg/L vs. 2.8 mg/L, P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Though presence of permanent AF is associated with elevated CRP levels, this elevation is not the result of earlier infections with Chlamydia pneumoniae or Helicobacter pylori or their combination.