Abstract
PURPOSE:Mycobacterium paratuberculosis has been proposed as a causative agent in patients with Crohn's disease. The purpose of this study was to determine whetherM. paratuberculosis was present in tissue from patients with Crohn's disease in a defined geographic area. METHODS: We prospectively evaluated, using polymerase chain reaction and culture, whetherM. paratuberculosis was present in 44 specimens (37 from intestinal mucosal biopsies and 7 from surgical resections) from patients with Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, or normal colonic mucosa. RESULTS: Of the 25 specimens tested from the 21 Crohn's patients, only 1 positive specimen was noted, whereas the 8 specimens from the 5 ulcerative colitis patients and the 11 specimens from the 11 control patients failed to demonstrate a positive result with polymerase chain reaction. Cultures of all specimens revealed no growth ofM. paratuberculosis. CONCLUSION:M. paratuberculosis was only rarely detected in biopsy or surgical specimens from patients with Crohn's disease. These results do not support a common causative role ofM. paratuberculosis in Crohn's disease.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Burnham WR, Lennard-Jones JE, Stanford JL, Bird RG. Mycobacteria as a possible cause of inflammatory bowel disease. Lancet 1978;2:693–6.
Chiodini RJ, Van Kruinigen HT, Merkal RS. Ruminant paratuberculosis (Johne's disease): the current status and future prospects. Cornell Vet 1984;74:218–62.
Moss MT, Green EP, Tizard ML, Malik ZP, Hermon-Taylor J. Specific detection ofMycobacterium paratuberculosis by DNA hybridization with a fragment of the insertion elementIS900. Gut 1991;32:395–8.
Sanderson JD, Hermon-Taylor J. Mycobacterial diseases of the gut: some impact from molecular biology. Gut 1992;33:145–7.
Saiki RK, Gelfand DH, Stoffel S,et al. Primer-directed enzymatic amplification of DNA with a thermostable DNA polymerase. Science 1988;239:487–91.
Siebert PD, Larrick JW. PCR MIMICS: competitive DNA fragments for use as internal standards in quantitative PCR. Biotechniques 1993;14:244–9.
Piatek M Jr, Saag MS, Yang LC,et al. High levels of HIV-1 in plasma during all stages of infection determined by competitive PCR. Science 1993;259:1749–54.
Markesich DC, Graham DY, Yoshimura HH. Progress in culture and subculture of spheroplasts and fastidious acid-fast bacilli isolated from intestinal tissues. J Clin Microbiol 1988;26:600–3.
Graham DY, Markesich DC, Yoshimura HH. Mycobacteria and inflammatory bowel disease. Gastroenterology 1987;92:436–42.
Chattman MS, Mattman LH, Mattman PE. L-forms in blood cultures demonstrated by nuclei acid fluorescence. Am J Clin Pathol 1969;51:41–50.
Cocito C, Gilot P, Coene M, De Kesel M, Poupart P, Vannuffel P. Paratuberculosis. Clin Microbiol Rev 1994;7:328–45.
Quirke P, Dockey D, Taylor GR, Lewis FA, Hawkey P, Graham D. Detection ofMycobacterium paratuberculosis in inflammatory bowel disease [abstract]. Gut 1991;35:572.
Dumonceau JM, Van Gossum A, Adler M,et al. NoMycobacterium paratuberculosis found in Crohn's disease using the polymerase chain reaction. Dig Dis Sci 1996;41:421–6.
Rowbotham DS, Mapstone NP, Trejdosiewicz LK, Howdle PD, Quirke P.Mycobacterium paratuberculosis DNA not detected in Crohn's disease tissue by fluorescent polymerase chain reaction. Gut 1995;37:660–7.
Erasmus DL, Victor TC, Van Eeden PJ, Falck V, Van Helden P.Mycobacterium paratuberculosis and Crohn's disease [letter]. Gut 1995;36:942.
Suenaga K, Yokoyama Y, Okazaki K, Yamamotto Y. Mycobacteria in the intestine of Japanese patients with inflammatory bowel disease. Am J Gastroenterol 1995;90:76–80.
Lisby G, Andersen J, Engbaek K, Binder V.Mycobacterium paratuberculosis in intestinal tissue in patients with Crohn's disease demonstrated by a nested primer PCR. Scand J Gastroenterol 1994;29:923–9.
Fidler HM, Thurrell W, Johnson NM, Rook GA, McFadden JJ. Specific detection ofMycobacterium paratuberculosis DNA associated with granulomatous tissue in Crohn's disease. Gut 1994;35:506–10.
Dell'Isola B, Poyart C, Goulet O,et al. Detection ofMycobacterium paratuberculosis by PCR in children with Crohn's disease. J Infect Dis 1994;169:449–51.
Cellier C, DeBenhouwer H, Faucheron JL,et al. Mycobacterium paratuberculosis, andavium subspsilvatium DNA cannot be detected in Crohn's disease tissue [abstract]. Gastroenterology 1993;104:678.
Sanderson JD, Moss MT, Tizard ML, Hermon-Tyler J.Mycobacterium paratuberculosis DNA in Crohn's disease tissue. Gut 1992;33:890–6.
Rosenberg WM, Bell JI, Jewell DP.Mycobacterium paratuberculosis DNA cannot be detected in Crohn's disease tissues [abstract]. Gastroenterology 1991;100:611.
Wu SW, Pao CC, Chan J, Yen TS. Lack of mycobacterial DNA in Crohn's disease tissue. Lancet 1991;337:174–5.
Gitnick G, Collins J, Beaman B,et al. Preliminary report on isolation of mycobacterium from patients with Crohn's disease. Dig Dis Sci 1989;34:925–32.
Moss MT, Sanderson JD, Tizard ML,et al. Polymerase chain reaction detection ofMycobacterium paratuberculosis andMycobacterium subpssilvatium in longterm cultures from Crohn's disease and control tissues. Gut 1992;33:1209–13.
Thompson DE. The role ofMycobacterium in Crohn's disease. J Med Microbiol 1994;41:74–94.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Presented in part at the meeting of the American Gastroenterological Association, New Orleans, Louisiana, May 14 to 18, 1994.
About this article
Cite this article
Clarkston, W.K., Presti, M.E., Petersen, P.F. et al. Role ofMycobacterium paratuberculosis in Crohn's disease. Dis Colon Rectum 41, 195–199 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02238248
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02238248