Trio of Heart Trouble
Trio of Heart Trouble
Infection, Autoimmune Reaction, Inflammation Trigger Heart Attack
May 12, 2003 -- Like three lemons in a slot machine, a trio of factors seems to trigger heart attack -- chronic infection, autoimmune conditions, and inflammation. That's the finding from a study appearing in this month's online version of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
Other studies have pointed to bacterial infections, specifically C. pneumoniae, a common cause of respiratory infections, as raising the risk of heart attack. Researchers speculate that blood vessels are weakened by agents in the blood that trigger inflammation.
In this newest study, researchers look at the effects of three factors:
"Ours is the first study to look for possible synergistic effects of these three factors, and those effects appear to be strong," explains lead author Tiina Huittinen, MSc, with the University of Oulu in Finland, in a news release.
In their study, Huittinen and colleagues analyzed blood samples from 241 middle-aged Finnish men, all of whom had high cholesterol and suffered heart attacks during the eight-year study period. They analyzed blood taken from the men three to six months before the heart attacks.
They then compared the blood samples with men who had not had heart attacks.
The findings: Those men who had high levels of CRP and hHsp60 antibodies had twice the risk of heart attack as other men, Huittinen reports. The association held only when the infection or autoimmune processes were persistent -- appearing in two blood samples taken at different times, she notes.
A deeper analysis of data, taking smoking and age into account, found an even higher risk -- nearly fivefold.
Living creatures produce heat-shock proteins to protect themselves from damage from chemical and other environmental factors, including microbial infections, she explains. Bacteria also produce the proteins.
Trio of Heart Trouble
Infection, Autoimmune Reaction, Inflammation Trigger Heart Attack
May 12, 2003 -- Like three lemons in a slot machine, a trio of factors seems to trigger heart attack -- chronic infection, autoimmune conditions, and inflammation. That's the finding from a study appearing in this month's online version of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
Other studies have pointed to bacterial infections, specifically C. pneumoniae, a common cause of respiratory infections, as raising the risk of heart attack. Researchers speculate that blood vessels are weakened by agents in the blood that trigger inflammation.
In this newest study, researchers look at the effects of three factors:
- C. pneumoniae, which has been associated with atherosclerosis -- the fatty plaque that clogs arteries.
- A substance called C-reactive protein (CRP), released by cells, which has been associated with chronic inflammation and has been shown to be an independent predictor of heart attacks.
- Antibodies to a substance called human heat-shock protein 60 (hHsp60), which protects cells from damage caused by inflammation, infection, and chemical and environmental toxins. This protein is suspected because of similarities between it and proteins in bacteria.
"Ours is the first study to look for possible synergistic effects of these three factors, and those effects appear to be strong," explains lead author Tiina Huittinen, MSc, with the University of Oulu in Finland, in a news release.
In their study, Huittinen and colleagues analyzed blood samples from 241 middle-aged Finnish men, all of whom had high cholesterol and suffered heart attacks during the eight-year study period. They analyzed blood taken from the men three to six months before the heart attacks.
They then compared the blood samples with men who had not had heart attacks.
The findings: Those men who had high levels of CRP and hHsp60 antibodies had twice the risk of heart attack as other men, Huittinen reports. The association held only when the infection or autoimmune processes were persistent -- appearing in two blood samples taken at different times, she notes.
A deeper analysis of data, taking smoking and age into account, found an even higher risk -- nearly fivefold.
Living creatures produce heat-shock proteins to protect themselves from damage from chemical and other environmental factors, including microbial infections, she explains. Bacteria also produce the proteins.
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