Prevalence of Campylobacter Species in Adult Crohn's Disease and the Preferential Colonization Sites of Campylobacter Species in the Human Intestine

Abstract

IntroductionCrohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) are the two major forms of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). A high prevalence of Campylobacter concisus was previously detected in paediatric CD and adult UC. Currently, the prevalence of C. concisus in adult CD and the preferential colonization sites of Campylobacter species in the human intestine are unknown. In this study, we examined the prevalence of Campylobacter species in biopsies collected from multiple anatomic sites of adult patients with IBD and controls.MethodsThree hundred and one biopsies collected from ileum, caecum, descending colon and rectum of 28 patients IBD (15 CD and 13 UC) and 33 controls were studied. Biopsies were used for DNA extraction and detection of Campylobacter species by PCR-sequencing and Campylobacter cultivation.ResultsA significantly higher prevalence of C. concisus in colonic biopsies of patients with CD (53%) was detected as compared with the controls (18%). Campylobacter genus-PCR positivity and C. concisus positivity in patients with UC were 85% and 77% respectively, being significantly higher than that in the controls (48% and 36%). C. concisus was more often detected in descending colonic and rectal biopsies from patients with IBD in comparison to the controls. C. concisus was isolated from patients with IBD.ConclusionThe high intestinal prevalence of C. concisus in patients with IBD, particularly in the proximal large intestine, suggests that future studies are needed to investigate the possible involvement of C. concisus in a subgroup of human IBD. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the association between adult CD and C. concisus as well as the first study of the preferential colonization sites of C. concisus in the human intestine.

Delineation of genetic relatedness and population structure of oral and enteric Campylobacter concisus strains by analysis of housekeeping genes

“…concisus is commonly present in the human oral cavity (Zhang et al, 2010). This bacterium was found to colonize the intestinal tract in some individuals and was shown to be associated with IBD (Mahendran et al, 2011;Man et al, 2010b;Mukhopadhya et al, 2011;Zhang et al, 2009). Previous studies found that enteric C. concisus strains isolated from intestinal biopsies and faecal samples contained two genomospecies (Aabenhus et al, 2005;Kalischuk & Inglis, 2011;Miller et al, 2012).…”

“…In recent years, C. concisus has gained increasing attention as an emerging enteric pathogen. A significantly higher intestinal prevalence of C. concisus detected by PCR in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) as compared with healthy controls was reported (Mahendran et al, 2011;Man et al, 2010a;Mukhopadhya et al, 2011;Zhang et al, 2009). IBD is a chronic inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract, and the two major clinical forms are Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC).…”

Global Epidemiology of Campylobacter Infection

“…Similarly, the prevalence of C. concisus was reported to be higher in patients with UC (91)(92)(93)(94). For example, Mahendran and colleagues found a higher prevalence of C. concisus, not only in colonic biopsy specimens from adult CD patients (53%; 8/15 patients) but also in those from UC patients (31%; 4/13 patients), than in controls (18%; 6/33 individuals) (P Ͻ 0.05) (91).…”

“…C. jejuni was the initial focus of research (83)(84)(85), but it was not until 2009 that Gradel and colleagues provided evidence that indicated an association between C. jejuni infection and an increased risk of IBD (86). Furthermore, recent studies investigating the role of other emerging Campylobacter species in IBD have provided solid evidence that demonstrates an association between C. concisus and these gastrointestinal disorders (81,(87)(88)(89)(90)(91)(92)(93)(94).…”

“…For example, Mahendran and colleagues found a higher prevalence of C. concisus, not only in colonic biopsy specimens from adult CD patients (53%; 8/15 patients) but also in those from UC patients (31%; 4/13 patients), than in controls (18%; 6/33 individuals) (P Ͻ 0.05) (91). Two further studies, conducted in Scotland, showed an increased prevalence of C. concisus DNA in both adults and children presenting with UC (92,93).…”