Tropheryma whipplei, a Potential Commensal Detected in Individuals Undergoing Routine Colonoscopy

M E Grasman; A M Pettersson; A Catsburg; A G Koek; A A van Bodegraven; P H M Savelkoul

doi:10.1128/JCM.02630-15

Tropheryma whipplei, a Potential Commensal Detected in Individuals Undergoing Routine Colonoscopy

J Clin Microbiol. 2015 Dec;53(12):3919-21. doi: 10.1128/JCM.02630-15. Epub 2015 Oct 7.

Authors

M E Grasman¹, A M Pettersson², A Catsburg², A G Koek², A A van Bodegraven³, P H M Savelkoul⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands t.grasman@vumc.nl.
² Department of Medical Microbiology and Infection Control, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
³ Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Department of Internal Medicine, Gastroenterology, and Geriatrics, Zuyderland Medical Center, Heerlen-Sittard-Geleen, The Netherlands.
⁴ Department of Medical Microbiology and Infection Control, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Department of Medical Microbiology, NUTRIM School of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, The Netherlands.

Abstract

Mucosal biopsy samples from individuals not suspected of having Whipple's disease were tested for the presence of Tropheryma whipplei. A sensitive and specific real-time PCR assay targeting a sequence present seven times in the T. whipplei genome was used. T. whipplei DNA was detected in 2.0 and 3.8% of the patients undergoing gastroduodenoscopy and colonoscopy, respectively, who were tested.

MeSH terms

Adult
Aged
Biopsy
Carrier State / epidemiology
Carrier State / microbiology*
Colon / microbiology*
Colonoscopy*
Female
Humans
Intestinal Mucosa / microbiology*
Male
Middle Aged
Prevalence
Prospective Studies
Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
Tropheryma / isolation & purification*