HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS REGISTER		Author Keyword(s) Vol Page [Advanced]

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: thx.2005.041004v1 60/11/962    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this link to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Add article to my folders Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Teig, N Articles by Gatermann, S Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Teig, N Articles by Gatermann, S

Chlamydophilapneumoniae and Mycoplasma pneumoniae in respiratory specimens of children with chronic lung diseases

¹ Children’s Hospital of Ruhr University, St Josef Hospital, Bochum, Germany
² Institute of Microbiology, Immunology and Hygiene, Ruhr University, Bochum, Germany

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr N Teig
Klinik für Kinder- und Jugendmedizin der Ruhr-Universität, St-Josef-Hospital, Alexandrinenstr 5, D-44791 Bochum, Germany; norbert.teig{at}rub.de

Background: Persistent infection with Mycoplasma pneumoniae and Chlamydophila pneumoniae has been implicated in the progression or induction of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Evidence for this hypothesis has been obtained in adults either by serological methods or by direct pathogen detection using invasive procedures.

Methods: We investigated nasal brush specimens and induced sputum from 38 children with stable chronic lung disease (asthma, n = 26; chronic bronchitis n = 12) and from 42 healthy controls for the presence of M pneumoniae or Cpneumoniae DNA by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using nested primers.

Results: None of the controls but 23.6% and 10.5% of the children with lung disease had positive PCR for C pneumoniae (p = 0.001) and M pneumoniae (p = 0.044) respectively. Significantly more children with non-atopic asthma than with atopic asthma were positive for C pneumoniae or M pneumoniae (4/8 v 1/18; p = 0.018). There were no unwanted side effects from sputum induction. No correlation was found between detection of Chlamydophila and severity of lung disease. Colonisation with both organisms had occurred before adulthood in a significant proportion of children with stable chronic lung diseases.

Conclusion: Combining nasal brush specimens with induced sputum may be a useful non-invasive method for studying the role of C pneumoniae and M pneumoniae infection in children with different chronic lung diseases.

Abbreviations: CP, Chlamydophila pneumoniae; FEV₁, forced expiratory volume in 1 second; MP, Mycoplasma pneumoniae; PCR, polymerase chain reaction

Keywords: asthma; children; persistent infection; polymerase chain reaction

This article has been cited by other articles:

				S. E. Wenzel and R. Covar Update in asthma 2005. Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med., April 1, 2006; 173(7): 698 - 706. [Full Text] [PDF]