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Preliminary report on isolation of mycobacteria from patients with Crohn's disease

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Abstract

Several investigators have recently described the isolation of slow growing mycobacteria from the tissues of patients with Crohn's disease (CD). The primary purpose of this study was to culture and identify mycobacteria from the intestines of patients with CD and other intestinal diseases (control tissues). The culture methods were designed to eliminate most rapidgrowing mycobacteria and to enhance the isolation of slow growing mycobacteria. Eighty-two surgically resected intestinal tissue samples were cultured over a four-year period: 27 tissues were from CD patients and 55 from patients with other intestinal diseases. After 4–12 months of culture, five mycobacteria were isolated, but only two have been identified thus far. Both of these organisms appeared to have initially grown as spheroplasts, but revertant bacteria were cultivated after transfer into fresh media. Four of the mycobacteria were from CD tissues, and one isolate was from a control tissue. Two of the isolates have been identified as M. cheloneisubsp. abscessus,strain 390, and M. paratuberculosisstrain 410. This M. paratuberculpsisis similar to the previously identified M. paratuberculosisstrains isolated from other human intestinal tissues from patients with CD. Both strains 390 and 410 were inoculated into neonatal goats, but they failed to reproduce a CD-like disease. The isolation of four mycobacteria from 27 CD tissues and only one from 55 control tissues strengthens the findings of previous investigators and supports the hypothesis that mycobacteria may be etiologically associated with some cases of Crohn's disease.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, UCLA School of Medicine, Center for the Health Sciences, 90024, Los Angeles, California

    Gary Gitnick MD, Judith Collins MD, Blaine Beaman PhD, Dale Brooks DVM, Marika Arthur BS, Tamotsu Imaeda MD & Mary Palieschesky BS

  2. University of California at Davis School of Medicine and School of Veterinary Medicine, USA

    Gary Gitnick MD, Judith Collins MD, Blaine Beaman PhD, Dale Brooks DVM, Marika Arthur BS, Tamotsu Imaeda MD & Mary Palieschesky BS

  3. Department of Microbiology, New Jersey Medical School, USA

    Gary Gitnick MD, Judith Collins MD, Blaine Beaman PhD, Dale Brooks DVM, Marika Arthur BS, Tamotsu Imaeda MD & Mary Palieschesky BS

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Gitnick, G., Collins, J., Beaman, B. et al. Preliminary report on isolation of mycobacteria from patients with Crohn's disease. Digest Dis Sci 34, 925–932 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01540280

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01540280

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