Is Crohn’s Disease a Mycobacterial Disease?

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-vii

   PDF

2. Historical Overview and Current Approaches in Determining a Mycobacterial Etiology of Crohn’s Disease

   • Rodrick J. Chiodini

   Pages 1-15

3. Mycobacterial Isolates from Crohn’s Disease in the Netherlands

   • Jan Haagsma, Chris J. J. Mulder, Anthony Eger, Guido N. J. Tytgat

   Pages 16-21

4. Attempts at Culturing Mycobacteria from Tissues of Patients with Crohn’s Disease

   • Georg Kreuzpaintner, Richard Kölble, Axel Wallner, Rudolf Hesterberg, Marie Francoise Thorel, Lutz Thomas et al.

   Pages 22-34

5. Immunohistological Evidence for Mycobacteria in Crohn’s Disease

   • Pranab K. Das, Ada W. Slob, Arnold Stronkhorst, Sander J. H. van Deventer, Guido N. J. Tytgat

   Pages 35-45

6. Mycobacterium Paratuberculosis and Crohn’s Disease

   • J. D. Sanderson, M. T. Moss, M. L. V. Tizard, J. Hermon-Taylor

   Pages 46-48

7. Rabbits and Severe Combined Immunodeficient (SCID) Mice as Animal Models for Mycobacteria in Crohn’s Disease

   • D. G. Butler

   Pages 49-53

8. Immunotherapeutical Approaches to Crohn’s Disease in View of a Possible Pathogenic Role of Mycobacterial Antigens

   • Arnold Stronkhorst, Guido N. J. Tytgat, Sander J. H. van Deventer

   Pages 54-63

9. Is Immunotherapy with Mycobacterium Vaccae Appropriate to Crohn’s Disease?

   • John L. Stanford

   Pages 64-69

10. Mycobacterial Etiology of Crohn’s Disease: How to Prove Causation

    • Fouad A. K. El-Zaatari, David Y. Graham

    Pages 70-75

11. Back Matter

    Pages 77-77

    PDF

IS CROHN'S DISEASE A MYCOBACTERIAL DISEASE'! The fact that the differential diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease includes intestinal infections has been a source of much interest and clinical concern for many years. Since the recognition of ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease as clinical entities, numerous attempts have been made to identify a specific organism resulting in the clinical and pathologic picture of Inflammatory Bowel Disease. The first suggestion about a connection between Johne's disease, a chronic mycobacterial enteritis in cattle, and Crohn' s disease occurred in 1913, when Dalziel described enteritis in humans which, although resembling intestinal tuberculosis, he believed to be a new disorder. Since the work of Crohn in the thirties a few investigators attempted to look for mycobacteria in Crohn's disease. Until now the work of Van Patter, Burnham and others did not receive widespread recognition. In 1984 the isolation of M. paratuberculosis was reported by Chiodini et al. This report initiated the current interest and controversy about a mycobacterial etiology in Crohn's disease. The hypothesis "Crohn's disease is Johne's disease" did not receive widespread recognition, but has lead to the first muIticentered efforts to determine whether or not mycobacteria are associated with Crohn's disease.

• antigen
• diagnosis
• immunotherapy
• infection
• tuberculosis

• Department of Hepato-gastroenterology, Rijnstate Hospital, Arnhem, The Netherlands

  Chris J. J. Mulder

• Department of Hepato-gastroenterology, Academic Medical Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

  Guido N. J. Tytgat

Policies and ethics