RESEARCH ARTICLE
Limited Role for C. pneumoniae, CMV and HSV-1 in Cerebral Large and Small Vessel Atherosclerosis
M Voorend*, a, A.J.A.M van der Venc, B Kubatd, J Loddera, C.A Bruggemanb
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2008Volume: 2
First Page: 39
Last Page: 44
Publisher ID: TONEUJ-2-39
DOI: 10.2174/1874205X00802010039
Article History:
Received Date: 13/2/2008Revision Received Date: 3/5/2008
Acceptance Date: 9/6/2008
Electronic publication date: 25/7/2008
Collection year: 2008

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/), which permits unrestrictive use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Aims: To explore whetherChlamydia pneumoniae, Cytomegalovirus and Herpes Simplex Virus type 1 could be detected in large and small cerebral arteries, as well as in an area of brain parenchyma where white matter lesions (leukoaraiosis) can be found, in patients with clinically unmanifested cerebrovascular atherosclerosis. Methods and results( Arterial specimens from the basilar artery and middle cerebral artery, and brain samples from the basal ganglia and periventricular white matter were obtained. Neuropathological changes were assessed in Haematoxylin-Eosin stained sections. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed on paraffin embedded sections. Subsequently, we performed immunohistochemical staining on samples, which were found positive in PCR. We failed to detect C. pneumoniae, CMV, or HSV-1, in any of the cerebral large vessels. In the brain tissue, we found only one case positive for CMV, and one for C. pneumoniae. Conclusions( our findings suggest a limited role for C. pneumoniae, CMV and HSV-1 in cerebral large and small vessel atherosclerosis.