Search for mycobacteria in interstitial cystitis using mycobacteria-specific DNA probes with signal amplification by polymerase chain reaction.

The aetiology of interstitial cystitis is not known. Various infective agents have been postulated and although recognised as perpetrators of chronic inflammatory conditions, mycobacteria have never been satisfactorily excluded from interstitial cystitis. If present in interstitial cystitis tissue, mycobacteria exist either in very small numbers or in forms which contemporary staining techniques fail to recognise. We used a polymerase chain reaction with mycobacteria-specific DNA probes and found no evidence of mycobacterial involvement in 8 cases of proven interstitial cystitis.