Mycobacterium Identification in Stool Cultures of IBD Patients Serologically Positive for 
Mycobacterium avium ss. paratuberculosis

I.Shafran M.D.and C.Piromalli B.S.; Florida Hospital, Orlando, FL.

Background: The role of Mycobacterium in the etiology of Inflammatory Bowel Disease has been the subject of much debate.  Previous studies have identified that over 70% of Crohn’s patients are serologically positive to both p35 and p36 recombinant clones specific for Mycobacterium avium ss. paratuberculosis (MAP). Purpose:  To culture and identify mycobacteria in stool of patients serologically positive for p35 and/or p36 recombinant clones.  Methods: Stool specimens were obtained during colonoscopy procedures from 15 Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) patients who were identified as being serologically positive to the recombinant clones p35 and/or p36 [12 patients with Crohn’s Disease (CD), 1 patient with Ulcerative colitis (UC) and 2 patients with Nonspecific colitis (NC)]. These stool specimens were cultured and analyzed at the Florida Hospital Department of Microbiology in Orlando, Florida. Cultures positive for mycobacterial growth were further identified through nucleic acid hybridization with an AccuProbe (Gen-Probe) test kit. Results: Of our total number of stool cultures, 7/15 (47%) were identified as positive for mycobacterial growth and 8/15 (53%) were negative for mycobacterial growth. Please refer to the table below. Conclusion: The variety of mycobaterial organisms found in these stool cultures demonstrate the presence of mycobateria in the digestive tract of IBD patients. Further studies must be done to explore whether these enteric organisms play a possible role in the pathogenesis of IBD. Larger studies must also be done to determine the utility of mycobaterial identification of stool cultures to facilitate in designing treatment strategies for IBD patients.

Mycobacterium Identification of Stool Cultures

All content copyright ©1999 Dr. Ira Shafran, M.D.

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