TY - JOUR T1 - Host immune response to <em>Chlamydia pneumoniae</em> heat shock protein 60 is associated with asthma JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J SP - 1078 LP - 1082 DO - 10.1183/09031936.01.00089001 VL - 17 IS - 6 AU - T. Huittinen AU - D. Hahn AU - T. Anttila AU - E. Wahlström AU - P. Saikku AU - M. Leinonen Y1 - 2001/06/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/17/6/1078.abstract N2 - Chlamydia pneumoniae infection has been associated with asthma. It has also been suggested that heat shock protein 60 (Hsp60) belonging to a class of highly conserved proteins may play a role in the pathogenesis of chlamydial infections. The purpose was to study whether the host immune response to C. pneumoniae Hsp60 is associated with asthma and decreased pulmonary function.An enzyme immunoassay was used to measure immunoglobulin-(Ig)A and IgG antibodies against recombinant C. pneumoniae Hsp60 and human Hsp60 in a study group consisting of 24 cases of recently symptomatic asthma and 62 nonasthmatic controls.A strong (r=0.50) and significant (p&lt;0.001) correlation was observed between C. pneumoniae and human Hsp60 IgA antibodies, but only C. pneumoniae Hsp60 IgA antibodies were significantly associated with asthma (p=0.02). Pulmonary function, as measured by forced expiratory volume in one second, also inversely correlated (r=−0.23, p=0.04) with the quantity of C. pneumoniae Hsp60 IgA antibodies, suggesting an association with the severity of pulmonary obstruction.By showing an association of Chlamydia pneumoniae heat shock protein 60 immunoglobulin A antibodies with asthma, the results support the hypothesis of an association between Chlamydia pneumoniae infection and asthma and support the need for further investigations on the role of heat shock protein 60 in the pathogenesis of asthma.This study was supported by a grant from the Sigrid Juselius Foundation and the contract BIO4-CT96-0152 of the Biotechnology Programme of the Commission of the European Union. ER -