COMMENTARY

Series editor: David Taylor

Is Chlamydia pneumoniae infection a risk factor for age related macular degeneration?

O Ishida¹, H Oku¹, T Ikeda¹, M Nishimura², K Kawagoe³ and K Nakamura⁴

Series editor: David Taylor

¹ Osaka Medical College, Osaka, Japan
² Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan
³ Hitachi Chemical Co Ltd, Japan
⁴ Nakamura Eye Clinic, Japan

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Hidehiro Oku, Osaka Medical College, Osaka, Japan;
hidehirooku@aol.com

Accepted 21 December 2002

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The association between a pathogen and AMD is worth further investigation because a new approach might treat this incurable vision threatening disease

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Keywords: age related macular degeneration; Chlamydia pneumoniae; ELISA; IgA; IgG

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Age related macular degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of decreased central vision in older people throughout the world. The pathogenesis of AMD is very complex and has still not been determined. In addition to some genetic and environmental factors, several kinds of risk factors have been proposed; sunlight exposure,¹ smoking,² and low levels of nutritional components such as antioxidants.³ Hypertension,⁴ hyperlipidaemia,⁴ and atherosclerosis,^5,6 which may lead to cardiovascular diseases, are also considered to be risk factors.

Chronic inflammatory events have recently been identified as plausible causes of atherosclerosis. In particular, much interest has been focused on infections by Chlamydia pneumoniae, which was previously known as the TWAR strain. This strain is one of the chlamydial species that has been recognised as a causal mediator of respiratory infections such as bronchitis, pneumonia, and upper respiratory tract infections.⁷

Chlamydia can multiply in various host cells including . . . [Full text of this article]

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