ArticleAnnals of clinical and translational neurology2021
Association between infectious burden and cerebral microbleeds: a pilot cross-sectional study.
Article in Annals of clinical and translational neurology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 12 citations in OpenAlex.
- Sero-epidemiological studies of pathogen burden: A scoping review.Wellcome open research · 2026Pooled it
- Clinical and Laboratory Predictors of Poor Neurological Outcomes Following Infectious Encephalitis: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.European journal of neurology · 2025Pooled it
- Beyond the gut: a comprehensive meta-analysis on Helicobacter pylori infection and cardiovascular complications.Annals of clinical microbiology and antimicrobials · 2025Pooled it
- Antibody-mediated immune responses and cardiovascular disease: a Mendelian randomization study.Experimental biology and medicine (Maywood, N.J.) · 2026Article
- Cerebral microbleeds in patients with COVID-19: is there an inevitable connection?Brain communications · 2024Review
- Article
- Chronic gastritis may predict risk of cerebral small vessel disease.BMC gastroenterology · 2023Article
- De novo appearance of cerebral microbleeds in community-dwelling older adults. Neuroimaging and clinical correlates.The neuroradiology journal · 2023Article
- Role of cerebral microbleeds in acute ischemic stroke and atrial fibrillation.Journal of thrombosis and thrombolysis · 2023Review
- Dysfunction of the Blood-brain Barrier in Cerebral Microbleeds: from Bedside to Bench.Aging and disease · 2021Review
- Baseline Infection Burden and Cognitive Function in Elders with Essential Tremor.Tremor and other hyperkinetic movements (New York, N.Y.) · 2021Article
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Authors and funding
12 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveCerebral microbleeds (CMBs) is a subtype of cerebral small vessel disease. Their underlying pathogenesis remains unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between infectious burden (IB) and CMBs.
methodsSeven hundred and seventy-three consecutive patients who were hospitalized in the Department of Neurology in General Hospital of Western Theater Command without severe neurological symptoms were recruited and selected in this pilot cross-sectional study. CMBs were assessed using the susceptibility-weighted imaging sequence of magnetic resonance imaging. Immunoglobulin G antibodies against common pathogens, including herpes simplex virus (HSV)-1, HSV-2, cytomegalovirus (CMV), Chlamydia pneumoniae (C. pneumoniae), Mycoplasma pneumoniae (M. pneumoniae), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), Helicobacter pylori (HP), and Borrelia burgdorferi (B. burgdorferi), were measured by commercial ELISA assays. IB was defined as a composite serologic measure of exposure to these common pathogens.
resultsPatients with and without CMBs were defined as the CMBs group (n = 76) and the non-CMBs group (n = 81), respectively. IB was significantly different between the CMBs and non-CMBs groups. After adjusted for other risk factors, the increased IB was independently associated with the presence of CMBs (P = 0.031, OR = 3.00, 95% CI [1.11-8.15]). IB was significantly positively associated with the number of CMBs (Spearman ρ = 0.653, P < 0.001). The levels of serum inflammatory markers were significantly different between the CMBs and non-CMBs groups and among the categories of IB.
interpretationIB consisting of HSV-1, HSV-2, CMV, C. pneumoniae, M. pneumoniae, EBV, HP, and B. burgdorferi was associated with CMBs. All the findings suggested that pathogen infection could be involved in the pathogenesis of CMBs.
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