Immunostimulation by chronic infection has been linked to an increased risk for different non-communicable diseases, which in turn are leading causes of death in high- and middle-income countries. Thus, we investigated if a positive serostatus for pathogens responsible for common chronic infections is individually or synergistically related to reduced overall survival in community dwelling elderly. We used data of 365 individuals from the German MEMO (Memory and Morbidity in Augsburg Elderly) cohort study with a median age of 73 years at baseline and a median follow-up of 14 years. We examined the effect of a positive serostatus at baseline for selected pathogens associated with chronic infections (Helicobacter pylori, Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, Toxoplasma gondii, cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr virus, herpes simplex virus 1/2, and human herpesvirus 6) on all-cause mortality with multivariable parametric survival models. We found a reduced survival time in individuals with a positive serostatus for Helicobacter pylori (accelerated failure time (AFT) − 15.92, 95% CI − 29.96; − 1.88), cytomegalovirus (AFT − 22.81, 95% CI − 36.41; − 9.22) and Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (AFT − 25.25, 95% CI − 43.40; − 7.10), after adjusting for potential confounders. The number of infectious agents an individual was seropositive for had a linear effect on all-cause mortality (AFT per additional infection − 12.42 95% CI − 18.55; − 6.30). Our results suggest an effect of seropositivity for Helicobacter pylori, cytomegalovirus, and Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato on all-cause mortality in older community dwelling individuals. Further research with larger cohorts and additional biomarkers is required, to assess mediators and molecular pathways of this effect.

慢性感染引起的免疫刺激与不同非传染性疾病的风险增加有关，而这些疾病又是高收入和中等收入国家死亡的主要原因。因此，我们研究了导致常见慢性感染的病原体的阳性血清状态是否与社区居住老年人的总体生存率降低单独或协同相关。我们使用了来自德国 MEMO（奥格斯堡老年人的记忆和发病率）队列研究的 365 名个体的数据，基线中位年龄为 73 岁，中位随访时间为 14 年。我们检查了与慢性感染相关的选定病原体（幽门螺杆菌、伯氏疏螺旋体、弓形虫、巨细胞病毒、EB 病毒、单纯疱疹病毒 1/2 和人类疱疹病毒 6）在基线时呈阳性血清状态对所有患者的影响。 - 多变量参数生存模型导致死亡率。我们发现幽门螺杆菌（加速失败时间（AFT）- 15.92，95% CI - 29.96；- 1.88）、巨细胞病毒（AFT - 22.81，95% CI - 36.41；- 9.22）血清状态呈阳性的个体的生存时间缩短和伯氏疏螺旋体（AFT − 25.25，95% CI − 43.40；− 7.10），调整潜在的混杂因素后。个体血清反应呈阳性的传染原数量对全因死亡率具有线性影响（每次额外感染的 AFT - 12.42 95% CI - 18.55； - 6.30）。我们的结果表明，幽门螺杆菌、巨细胞病毒和伯氏疏螺旋体的血清阳性对老年社区居民的全因死亡率有影响。 需要对更大的队列和其他生物标志物进行进一步的研究，以评估这种效应的介质和分子途径。