Humoral
Immune Response of Crohn's Patients for Mycobacterium
avium subspecies paratuberculosis
I.
Shafran, W. Fenster, C. Piromalli, C. Romero, D. Schwartz, D. Campbell,
F.
El-Zataari and S. Naser
This study analyzed the humoral immune
response of Crohn's Disease (CD) patients compared with age-matched controls
against two recombinant clones of Mycobacterium
avium subspecies paratuberculosis (M
para). The recombinant clones designated p35 and p36, expressing a 35K and
36K protein respectively, were identified from a previously constructed genomic
library of M para and screened by
immunoblot against rabbit hyperimmune anti-M
para antibodies. A total of 110 human
sera consisted of 63 CD patients and 47 controls (35 volunteers with no history
or symptoms of GI tract disorder and 12 with Ulcerative Colitis [UC]) were
analyzed by immunoblot. The donated sera were free of tuberculosis, leprosy
and/or have not received the BCG (Bacillus Calmet Guerin) vaccine. The following
table summarizes the serologic results. The data confirm reasonable significance
of P<0.001 between CD and control samples.
These findings add further evidence that M
para may have a close association in the etiology of CD. The data also
suggest that there is great potential for using these recombinant antigens in a
serologic test for clinical diagnosis.
Antigen
|
CD
|
UC
|
Control
|
P35
|
49
(78%) |
1
(8%) |
5
(14%) |
|
P36 |
57
(90%) |
1
(8%) |
4
(11%) |
|
Combined |
48
(76%) |
1
(8%) |
0
(0%) |
|
Either |
58
(92%) |
1
(8%) |
9
(25%) |
|
Total (110) |
63 |
12 |
35 |
All content copyright ©1999 Dr. Ira Shafran, M.D.