Abstract
BackgroundChronic infections and associated inflammatory markers are suggested risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD). The proinflammatory cytokine, interleukin (IL)-1β, is suggested to play a role in the regulation of local inflammatory responses in both CVD and periodontitis. The leukotoxin from the periodontal pathogen Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans has recently been shown to cause abundant secretion of IL-1β from macrophages. The aim of the present study was to compare the prevalence of systemic immunoreactivity to A. actinomycetemcomitans leukotoxin in myocardial infarction (MI) cases (n = 532) and matched controls (n = 1,000) in a population-based case and referents study in northern Sweden.MethodsCapacity to neutralize A. actinomycetemcomitans leukotoxin was analyzed in a bioassay with leukocytes, purified leukotoxin, and plasma. Plasma samples that inhibited lactate-dehydrogenase release from leukotoxin-lysed cells by ≥50% were classified as positive.ResultsNeutralizing capacity against A. actinomycetemcomitans leukotoxin was detected in 53.3% of the plasma samples. The ability to neutralize leukotoxin was correlated to increasing age in men (n = 1,082) but not in women (n = 450). There was no correlation between presence of systemic leukotoxin-neutralization capacity and the incidence of MI, except for women (n = 146). Women with a low neutralizing capacity had a significantly higher incidence of MI than those who had a high neutralizing capacity.ConclusionSystemic immunoreactivity against A. actinomycetemcomitans leukotoxin was found at a high prevalence in the analyzed population of adults from northern Sweden. The results from the present study do not support the hypothesis that systemic leukotoxin-neutralizing capacity can decrease the risk for MI.
Highlights
Chronic infections and associated inflammatory markers are suggested risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD)
Study population The study population was derived from the Northern Sweden Health and Disease Study (NSHDS), which consists of three sub-cohorts: The Västerbotten Intervention Programme (VIP) [20], the WHO’s Multinational Monitoring of Trends and Determinants in Cardiovascular Disease (MONICA) study in northern Sweden [21] and the Mammography Screening Project (MSP) [22]
Further dilution of the plasma samples resulted in loss of the capacity to neutralize leukotoxin in 526 of these samples, and they were classified as samples with low neutralizing capacity
Summary
Chronic infections and associated inflammatory markers are suggested risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD). The aim of the present study was to compare the prevalence of systemic immunoreactivity to A. actinomycetemcomitans leukotoxin in myocardial infarction (MI) cases (n = 532) and matched controls (n = 1,000) in a population-based case and referents study in northern Sweden. Chronic inflammations, such as periodontitis, are suggested to be risk factors for the development of cardiovascular diseases [1]. Periodontitis is a bacteria-induced inflammatory condition that causes degradation of the the oral cavity of humans [8]. The proinflammatory response induced by the leukotoxin is a cellular response associated with the pathogenesis of periodontitis [10,12,13] and atherosclerosis [14]
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