In:
BMC Medicine, Springer Science and Business Media LLC, Vol. 20, No. 1 ( 2022-11-01)
Abstract:
Multiple human pathogens establish chronic, sometimes life-long infections. Even if they are often latent, these infections can trigger some degree of local or systemic immune response, resulting in chronic low-grade inflammation. There remains an incomplete understanding of the potential contribution of both persistent infections and human genetic variation on chronic low-grade inflammation. We searched for potential associations between seropositivity for 13 persistent pathogens and the plasma levels of the inflammatory biomarker C-reactive protein (CRP), using data collected in the context of the UK Biobank and the CoLaus|PsyCoLaus Study, two large population-based cohorts. We performed backward stepwise regression starting with the following potential predictors: serostatus for each pathogen, polygenic risk score for CRP, and demographic and clinical factors known to be associated with CRP. We found evidence for an association between Chlamydia trachomatis ( P -value = 5.04e − 3) and Helicobacter pylori ( P -value = 8.63e − 4) seropositivity and higher plasma levels of CRP. We also found an association between pathogen burden and CRP levels ( P -value = 4.12e − 4). These results improve our understanding of the relationship between persistent infections and chronic inflammation, an important determinant of long-term morbidity in humans.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
1741-7015
DOI:
10.1186/s12916-022-02607-7
Language:
English
Publisher:
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Publication Date:
2022
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2131669-7
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