Failure to detect Chlamydia pneumoniae in brain sections of Alzheimer's disease patients

J Clin Microbiol. 2000 Feb;38(2):881-2. doi: 10.1128/JCM.38.2.881-882.2000.

Abstract

A recent North American study detected Chlamydia pneumoniae in 17 of 19 brains of Alzheimer's patients and supposed a C. pneumoniae infection to be a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD). In this study, we analyzed paraffin-embedded tissue samples of 20 AD patients by nested PCR and immunocytochemistry with a panel of antichlamydial antibodies and could detect neither C. pneumoniae-specific DNA nor chlamydial antigens. From our data, the presence of C. pneumoniae in the brains of Alzheimer's patients is not a common phenomenon; an association remains questionable.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Alzheimer Disease / microbiology*
  • Brain / microbiology*
  • Chlamydophila pneumoniae / isolation & purification*
  • Female
  • Formaldehyde
  • Humans
  • Immunohistochemistry
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Paraffin Embedding
  • Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Tissue Fixation

Substances

  • Formaldehyde