Chlamydia and heart disease…

… he has identified how two different kinds of Chlamydia can cause both coronary artery disease and miscarriages. Solving one mystery gave him clues that he needed to figure out the other. By focusing on the immune system mechanisms in Chlamydia infections, Azenabor has identified an important link in seemingly unrelated health problems. The result could be new treatments and prevention strategies for both heart disease and infertility. Chlamydia pneumoniae is a microbe that normally causes pneumonia and bronchitis, but it has long been associated with atherosclerosis, a cardiovascular disease also called “hardening of the arteries.”

Huh? Chlamydia? Yes, when the macrophages’ cell walls are infected with the C. pneumoniae their usually tight cholesterol, which they regularly store, traffics that cholesterol into the cell membrane’s and cause them to become rigid and unable to move…

The bacteria also “hijacks” the cells signaling in a way that helps promote the existence of the Chlamydia pneumoniae. The bacterium also disturbs the macrophage’s production of toxins in a process that transforms them into “signaling molecules,” which support functions that keep the bacterium alive. Because of this the bacteria can very quickly reproduce and accumulate in the blood vessels causing stiffening and heart disease, ie. atherosclerosis.

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