Chronic Bacterial Infection May Lead to Asthma

Long-term infection with the pneumonia-causing bacteria, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, could lead to chronic asthma, according to researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas (TX, USA). Their findings were reported in the February 2002 issue of Infection and Immunity.

Dr. R. Doug Hardy, assistant professor of internal medicine, and colleagues studied mice infected with M pneumoniae, the cause of pneumonia in humans. Hardy and his team found that 18 months after having been infected with M pneumoniae, some mice showed remnants of the bacteria, and many of those mice had developed bronchial constriction that commonly causes asthma attacks. Results of the study suggest that anti-microbial treatment of acute M pneumoniae respiratory infection may be a way to improve wheezing and poor lung function, and thus lessen the risk of later development of asthma.

It has been known for a long time that M pneumonaie bacteria can linger months after the acute infection has subsided. Scientists have hypothesized that chronic respiratory infection caused by M pneumonaie plays a role in asthma, since laboratory cultures reveal more of the bacteria present in asthmatics than in people without asthma. M pneumoniae has also been found in samples from patients suffering severe asthma attacks.

These findings provide strong evidence supporting the postulated association between M pneumoniae infection and chronic pulmonary disease, possibly asthma, in humans,” the investigators wrote.




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