Streptococcal infection in the pathogenesis of BehÇet's disease and clinical effects of minocycline on the disease symptoms

Abstract

Although the precise pathoetiology of Behçet's disease (BD) remains obscure, patients with BD have a high incidence of chronic infectious foci, indicating an enhanced susceptibility to chronic tonsillitis, and dental caries. Sometimes, clinical symptoms appear after treatment of these foci in BD patients. It is believed that BD might be related to an allergic reaction to a bacterial infection in view of the many clinical symptoms, especially the presence of aphthous and genital ulcerations. An attempt to obtain cutaneous responses to bacterial antigens has been carried out using various vaccines developed from bacteria isolated from the ulcerative lesions and oral cavities of BD patients. BD patients often show intense hypersensitivity to various strains of streptococci, not only by their cutaneous reactions but also by in vitro testing. In this report, we describe our previous studies on the correlation between streptococcal antigens and the pathogenesis of BD and also discuss the recent reports of other authors. The intense hypersensitivity to streptococcal antigens acquired after streptococcal infection is thought to play an important role in the appearance of symptoms in BD patients since the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) was enhanced when stimulated with streptococcal antigen in a culture system. Minocycline, an antibiotic to which certain strains of streptococci are sensitive, reduced the frequency of clinical symptoms in BD patients as well as the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines by BD-PBMC stimulated with streptococcal antigen.

Antistreptolysin O Levels in Patients with Behcet’s Disease

“…Thus, hypersensitivity to streptococcal antigens was thought to influence the development of symptoms in patients with Behcet's disease [16,17]. There are few studies investigating the level of ASO in patients with Behcet's disease [15,18].…”

The Evaluation of Saliva Flow Rate, pH, Buffer Capacity, Microbiological Content and Indice of Decayed, Missing and Filled Teeth in Behçet’s Patients

“…Systemic symptoms of BD could thus be induced after treatment of dental caries or even by intracutaneous injection of streptococcal antigens. Recent reports have shown that antibacterial treatment is beneficial in BD (8,25).…”

Behcet’s Disease and Related Diseases -Immune Reactions to Oralstreptococci in Their Pathogenesis

“…As one of the triggering factors, the oral unhygienic condition may be suspected, because periodontitis, decayed teeth, chronic tonsillitis, etc. are frequently noted in BD patients [12,13] . The proportion of Streptococcus sanguinis (S. sanguinis), which was previously recognized as species of the genus Streptococcus named "S. sanguis", was significantly high in the oral bacterial flora of BD patients in comparison with those of healthy controls.…”

“…Although the actual etiology of BD is still unclear, the pathogenesis has been generally clearer by the etiological studies based on the genetic intrinsic factors and extrinsic triggering factors [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] . As one of the triggering factors, the oral unhygienic condition may be suspected, because periodontitis, decayed teeth, chronic tonsillitis, etc.…”