Centre National de Recherche Scientifique, Université de la Méditerranée, Marseille, France.
J Infect Dis. 2011 Jul 1;204(1):44-50. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jir219.
Tropheryma whipplei has long been considered as a rare bacterium causing a rare disease, Whipple's disease. However, recent advances now suggest that T. whipplei is a ubiquitous environmental bacterium that may cause gastroenteritis, commonly associated with viral pathogens. We developed an animal model to support this hypothesis. We found that orally given T. whipplei induced diarrhea in mice, without spreading into the intestines. Aggravating factors, such as damage to the intestinal mucosa, favored bacterial spreading. Indeed, bacterial presence was prolonged in stools of dextran sulfate-treated mice, and bacteria were detected in the colon. This resulted in an immune response, with T. whipplei-specific serum IgM and IgG and fecal IgA, as measured by newly introduced immuno-polymerase chain reaction technique. Our results confirm that T. whipplei is an agent causing gastroenteritis and suggest that existing mucosal damage may favor bacterial invasion of tissues.
特罗菲马沃氏菌长期以来被认为是一种罕见的细菌，可引起罕见的疾病——惠普尔病。然而，最近的研究进展表明，特罗菲马沃氏菌是一种无处不在的环境细菌，可能引起肠胃炎，通常与病毒病原体有关。我们建立了一个动物模型来支持这一假说。我们发现，口服特罗菲马沃氏菌可诱导小鼠腹泻，但不会扩散到肠道。加重因素，如肠道黏膜损伤，有利于细菌的扩散。事实上，在葡聚糖硫酸钠处理的小鼠的粪便中，细菌存在时间延长，并且在结肠中检测到细菌。这导致了免疫反应，通过新引入的免疫聚合酶链反应技术检测到特罗菲马沃氏菌特异性血清 IgM 和 IgG 以及粪便 IgA。我们的结果证实特罗菲马沃氏菌是引起肠胃炎的病原体，并表明现有的黏膜损伤可能有利于细菌侵袭组织。
