Study On The Correlation Between Chinese Patients Of Crohn’s Disease And Mycobacterium Avium Subspecies Paratuberculosis

Background:Crohn’s disease (CD), is a chronic recurrent inflammatory disorders of the gastrointestinal tract with unknown etiology. Various factors contribute to CD including environment, genetics, intestinal infection and immunity. Since the studies by Chiodini et al, the isolation of a highly specific mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) DNA sequence-IS900-in patients with CD, it has been widely researched over the years. Since then, a number of studies reported that they cultured MAP from intestinal biopsies, lymph node and breastmilk of CD patients. Nevertheless, the role of MAP in CD is still in dispute.Objective:The aim of the current study is to clarify the possible relationship between MAP and CD seeking the presence of IS900DNA fragments by nested polymearse chain reaction (nPCR) and culture MAP in buffy coat preparations from CD patients and healthy controls.Methods:Blood samples were obtained from10CD patients, who were diagnosed by clinical manifestation, colonoscopy and pathology from August,2011to March,2012in Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital School of Medicine, Zhejiang University.14healthy individuals were also included as control groups. We investigated the presence of MAP IS900DNA fragment by nPCR and cultured MAP in buffy coat preparations from all of them.Results:MAP DNA in uncultured buffy coats was not identified by nPCR in the individuals with Crohn’s disease and the healthy individuals. No viable MAP was cultured from the blood of patients above.Conclusion:These results do not support the hypothesis that Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis play a role in Crohn’s disease.