Schoedon G, Goldenberger D, Forrer R, Gunz A, Dutly F, Höchli M, Altwegg M, Schaffner A
Department of Medicine, University of Zurich Medical School, Switzerland.
J Infect Dis. 1997 Sep;176(3):672-7. doi: 10.1086/514089.
Whipple's disease is a systemic illness caused by a specific agent. Despite recognition of bacteria in lesions, efforts to isolate the causative agent remained futile. A novel strategy was devised to culture Whipple bacilli in deactivated mononuclear phagocytes. Infected tissue was inoculated into human phagocytes deactivated with interleukin (IL)-4, IL-10, and dexamethasone. Within 8-10 days, diastase-resistant periodic acid-Schiff-positive inclusions appeared, corresponding to intact and degenerating bacteria shown to be Tropheryma whippelii by electron microscopy and molecular analyses. T. whippelii was passaged several times in deactivated monocytes and a monoblastic cell line. Time-kinetics growth studies and comparative polymerase chain reaction analysis documented multiplication of T. whippelii in deactivated macrophages. Complementary studies showed that IL-4 rendered phagocytes permissive for T. whippelii, a strong indication that host factors contribute to the pathogenesis of Whipple's disease. The propagation of T. whippelii will permit microbiologic, immunologic, seroepidemiologic, and therapeutic studies of this pathogen.
惠普尔病是一种由特定病原体引起的全身性疾病。尽管在病变部位发现了细菌，但分离致病病原体的努力仍未成功。人们设计了一种新策略，用于在失活的单核吞噬细胞中培养惠普尔杆菌。将感染组织接种到用白细胞介素（IL）-4、IL-10和地塞米松失活的人吞噬细胞中。在8至10天内，出现了抗淀粉酶的过碘酸希夫阳性包涵体，通过电子显微镜和分子分析显示其对应于完整和退化的细菌，即惠普尔嗜组织菌。惠普尔嗜组织菌在失活的单核细胞和单核母细胞系中传代了几次。时间动力学生长研究和比较聚合酶链反应分析记录了惠普尔嗜组织菌在失活巨噬细胞中的增殖。补充研究表明，IL-4使吞噬细胞对惠普尔嗜组织菌具有易感性，这有力地表明宿主因素参与了惠普尔病的发病机制。惠普尔嗜组织菌的繁殖将有助于对该病原体进行微生物学、免疫学、血清流行病学和治疗学研究。
