Bronchial asthma, Chlamydophila pneumoniae infection and macrolides: discussion is continuing
We found the pathogenetic importance of infection caused by Chlamydophila pneumoniae (CP-infection) in the development of bronchial asthma (BA). Increase of knowledge about the involvement of C. pneumoniae in the pathogenesis of asthma has led to particular changes in approaches to the asthma treatment. We present evidence that macrolide antibiotics have a beneficial impact on the course of asthma. The results of the study, whose goal was evaluation of possibility of optimization the asthma control based on determination of chronic persistent CP infection influence on the natural history of disease and evaluation of effectiveness of prolonged treatment with azithromycin in 71 patients with asthma, are presented. It is found that identification of chronic persistent CP infection can serve as a marker of severity of asthma, along with the degree of bronchial obstruction and the frequency of daily symptoms. Treatment with azithromycin promoted significant respiratory function improvement in patients with confirmed CP infection and some improvement in control of asthma.

Keywords: respiratory function, Chlamydophila pneumoniae, macrolides, azithromycin, bronchial asthma