Abstract
PURPOSE:Mycobacterium paratuberculosis has been proposed as a causative agent in patients with Crohn's disease. The purpose of this study was to determine whetherM. paratuberculosis was present in tissue from patients with Crohn's disease in a defined geographic area. METHODS: We prospectively evaluated, using polymerase chain reaction and culture, whetherM. paratuberculosis was present in 44 specimens (37 from intestinal mucosal biopsies and 7 from surgical resections) from patients with Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, or normal colonic mucosa. RESULTS: Of the 25 specimens tested from the 21 Crohn's patients, only 1 positive specimen was noted, whereas the 8 specimens from the 5 ulcerative colitis patients and the 11 specimens from the 11 control patients failed to demonstrate a positive result with polymerase chain reaction. Cultures of all specimens revealed no growth ofM. paratuberculosis. CONCLUSION:M. paratuberculosis was only rarely detected in biopsy or surgical specimens from patients with Crohn's disease. These results do not support a common causative role ofM. paratuberculosis in Crohn's disease.
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Presented in part at the meeting of the American Gastroenterological Association, New Orleans, Louisiana, May 14 to 18, 1994.
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Clarkston, W.K., Presti, M.E., Petersen, P.F. et al. Role ofMycobacterium paratuberculosis in Crohn's disease. Dis Colon Rectum 41, 195–199 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02238248
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02238248