Mycobacteria and inflammatory bowel disease

Epidemiology of Infection by Nontuberculous Mycobacteria

“…Isolation of M. kansasii from tissue of patients with Crohn's disease after longterm culture has also been reported (64). It should be pointed out that culture of such tissue rarely yields M. paratuberculosis (182,331,563), mycobacteria, or any other microorganisms (510).…”

“…The initial isolate was shown to be identical to M. paratuberculosis on the basis of DNA-DNA hybridization (563), although it should be remembered that M. avium (which was not included in that study) and M. paratuberculosis share 100% DNA-DNA hybridization values (491). Since the initial reports, other investigators have independently reported isolation of M. paratuberculosis-like organisms from tissue of patients with Crohn's disease (182,215,353). Isolation of M. kansasii from tissue of patients with Crohn's disease after longterm culture has also been reported (64).…”

The role of mycobacteria in Crohn's disease

“…It was concluded from these results that mycobacteria were associated with diseased tissue and that they did not exclude a mycobacterial aetiology for CD. 23 With improved media for culture and spheroplast rever~i o n , l~~ the same research group obtained 15, 10 and 19 mycobacterial isolates from 74 CD, 10 UC and 38 non-IBD patients, respectively, and 2 1 spheroplasts from all three patient groups. This substantiated the conclusions of their earlier study that mycobacteria were associated with diseased tissue and that the association was not restricted to CD patients.…”

Location of acyl groups of trehalose-containing lipooligosaccharides of mycobacteria

“…Mycobacteria are being isolated with increasing frequency from the intestinal contents of healthy individuals (14,16), casting doubt on their direct implication in Crohn's disease. Nevertheless, the belief persists, supported by a body of evidence (8,10,34), some of it questioned (2,3,26), that mycobacteria do play a role in the pathogenesis of Crohn's disease.…”