A Prospective Study of Cytomegalovirus, Herpes Simplex Virus 1, and Coronary Heart Disease

Abstract

IN A RECENT REVIEW¹ of published studies of chronic infection and coronary heart disease (CHD), the results of 18 studies of cytomegalovirus (CMV) and atherosclerosis were presented. Nearly all of these studies used, as their outcome, a measure of arterial wall thickness, stenosis, or restenosis and showed moderate, and not always statistically significant, odds ratios associated with CMV seropositivity of 1.5 to 2.0, although some were higher and some were lower. The biological plausibility of these associations was also reviewed, outlining the potential short-term effects of precipitating a plaque rupture or the long-term effects of initiation and promotion of plaque growth.