Chlamydia Infections and Heart Disease Linked Through Antigenic Mimicry

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 283; no. 5406; pp. 1335 - 1339
• Main Authors: Bachmaier, Kurt, Neu, Nikolaus, de la Maza, Luis M., Pal, Sukumar, Hessel, Andrew, Penninger, Josef M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Society for the Advancement of Science 26-02-1999; American Association for the Advancement of Science; The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Adoptive Transfer; Amino Acid Sequence; Animals; Antibodies; Antigens, Bacterial - chemistry; Antigens, Bacterial - immunology; Autoantibodies - biosynthesis; Autoimmune Diseases - immunology; Autoimmune Diseases - microbiology; Autoimmune Diseases - pathology; B lymphocytes; B-Lymphocytes - immunology; Bacteria; Bacterial diseases; Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins - chemistry; Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins - immunology; Biological and medical sciences; Cardiovascular disease; Cardiovascular diseases; CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes - immunology; Chlamydia; Chlamydia - immunology; Chlamydia Infections - complications; Chlamydia Infections - immunology; Chlamydia trachomatis - immunology; CpG Islands; Death; Epidemiology; Epitopes; Experimental bacterial diseases and models; Heart; Heart diseases; Heart Disorders; Humans; Immunization; Infections; Infectious diseases; Literary Devices; Lymphocyte Activation; Medical sciences; Mice; Mice, Inbred BALB C; Molecular Mimicry; Molecular Sequence Data; Myocarditis; Myocarditis - immunology; Myocarditis - microbiology; Myocarditis - pathology; Myocardium - immunology; Myocardium - pathology; Myosin; Myosin Heavy Chains - chemistry; Myosin Heavy Chains - immunology; Obesity; Oligodeoxyribonucleotides - immunology; Peptides; Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; Sexually Transmitted Diseases; T lymphocytes; Autoimmunity; Human; HLA-System; Chlamydiaceae; Major histocompatibility system; Class II histocompatibility antigen; Cardiovascular disease; Inflammatory disease; Infection; Experimental disease; Chlamydia; Animal; Heart disease; T-Lymphocyte; Bacteriosis; Chlamydiales; Bacteria; Complication; Chlamydiosis
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.283.5406.1335

Chlamydia infections are epidemiologically linked to human heart disease. A peptide from the murine heart muscle-specific α myosin heavy chain that has sequence homology to the 60-kilodalton cysteine-rich outer membrane proteins of Chlamydia pneumoniae, C. psittaci, and C. trachomatis was shown to induce autoimmune inflammatory heart disease in mice. Injection of the homologous Chlamydia peptides into mice also induced perivascular inflammation, fibrotic changes, and blood vessel occlusion in the heart, as well as triggering T and B cell reactivity to the homologous endogenous heart muscle-specific peptide. Chlamydia DNA functioned as an adjuvant in the triggering of peptide-induced inflammatory heart disease. Infection with C. trachomatis led to the production of autoantibodies to heart muscle-specific epitopes. Thus, Chlamydia-mediated heart disease is induced by antigenic mimicry of a heart muscle-specific protein.