Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Spirochaetales”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources
PubMed2006

Intestinal spirochetosis and chronic watery diarrhea: clinical and histological response to treatment and long-term follow up.

BACKGROUND: The clinical significance of intestinal spirochetosis is uncertain, therefore the aim of the present paper was to assess the prevalence of histological intestinal spirochetosis in patients with and without chronic watery diarrhea and to evaluate its clinical relevance. METHODS: A prospective diagnostic work-up of intestinal spirochetosis was made on biopsy samples taken from patients with chronic watery diarrhea submitted between 1994 and 2004 (1174 colonoscopies with multiple biopsies). Three other positive cases identified from routine endoscopic biopsies also were reviewed. In addition, samples from 100 asymptomatic control patients and a random sample of another 104 colonic specimens were reviewed for intestinal spirochetosis. The diagnosis was established by light and electron microscopy. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of the 16S ribosomal RNA and reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) oxidase genes of the intestinal spirochetes Brachyspira aalborgi and Brachyspira pilosicoli was performed on tissue biopsies of the 11 positive patients. After diagnosis, treatment with penicillin benzatine (PB) or metronidazole was offered to all symptomatic patients and they were followed for a mean of 45.4 months (range: 37-113 months). RESULTS: Eight patients with chronic watery diarrhea were positive for intestinal spirochetosis. Intestinal spirochetosis was not diagnosed in the controls. Histological resolution of the infection paralleled clinical recovery in six patients (following metronidazole treatment in three). Most patients showed mild, non-specific colonic inflammation. Invasion by the spirochetes was not demonstrated by electron microscopy. Brachyspira aalborgi and B. pilosicoli each were identified by PCR in two cases. CONCLUSIONS: Histological intestinal spirochetosis appears to be relatively uncommon in Catalonia (Spain) compared to previous reports from other countries, but was identified in patients (0.7%) with chronic watery diarrhea. Sustained clinical recovery after spontaneous or drug-induced spirochetal disappearance in these individuals suggests that intestinal spirochetosis may play a pathogenic role in chronic watery diarrhea. Treatment with metronidazole is advisable in patients with persistent symptoms.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

The first reported case of intestinal spirochaetosis in Japan.

A 65-year-old Japanese male consulted Ozuchi Prefectural Hospital (Iwate, Japan) on 19 January 1994 complaining of weight loss. Cecal mucosal biopsy material, which was stained with hematoxylin-eosin revealed a thick, basophilic fuzzy fringe covering the surface epithelium. Transmission and scanning electron microscopy observations demonstrated the presence of slightly wavy spirochaetes with tapered ends, which were attached to the surface epithelium of the colonic mucosa via one of these ends. The patient did not display any clinical symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease, and laboratory tests eliminated an immunodeficiency condition. Thus, in the present case, the intestinal spirochaetes appear to be harmless commensals. This paper presents the first reported case of intestinal spirochaetosis in Japan.

Aged↗
PubMed2006

Development of a multiplex-PCR for rapid detection of the enteric pathogens Lawsonia intracellularis, Brachyspira hyodysenteriae, and Brachyspira pilosicoli in porcine faeces.

AIMS: To develop an assay to simultaneously detect Lawsonia intracellularis, Brachyspira hyodysenteriae and Brachyspira pilosicoli in pig faeces. METHODS AND RESULTS: A multiplex-polymerase chain reaction (M-PCR) was designed to amplify a 655-base pair (bp) portion of the L. intracellularis 16S rRNA gene, a 354-bp portion of the B. hyodysenteriae NADH oxidase gene, and a 823-bp portion of the B. pilosicoli 16S rRNA gene. Specificity was assessed using 80 strains of Brachyspira spp. and 30 other enteric bacteria. Bacterial DNA was extracted from faeces using the QIAamp DNA Stool Mini Kit. The M-PCR was tested in parallel with culture and/or PCR on 192 faecal samples from eight piggeries. Faeces also were seeded with known cell concentrations of the three pathogenic species, and the limits of detection of the M-PCR tested. The M-PCR was specific, with limits of detection of 10(2)-10(3) cells of the respective species per gram of faeces. CONCLUSIONS: The M-PCR is a rapid, sensitive and specific test for detecting three important enteric bacterial pathogens of pigs. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: The availability of a new diagnostic M-PCR will allow rapid detection and control of three key porcine enteric pathogens.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

PCR detection of Brachyspira aalborgi and Brachyspira pilosicoli in human faeces.

Previously-developed PCR protocols specific for the 16S rRNA gene of the intestinal spirochaetes Brachyspira aalborgi and Brachyspira pilosicoli were adapted for the detection of these species in human faeces, following DNA extraction and purification using mini-prep columns. The limits of detection in seeded faeces for B. aalborgi and B. pilosicoli respectively were 2x10(2) and 7x10(3) cells per PCR reaction, equivalent to 5x10(4) and 1x10(5) cells per g of faeces. The PCR techniques were applied to faecal samples from two patients with histological evidence of intestinal spirochaetosis. In the first patient, in whom B. aalborgi had been identified by 16S rDNA PCR from colonic biopsies, a positive amplification for B. aalborgi only was obtained from the faeces. The organism could not be isolated from these faeces. In the second patient, both colonic biopsies and faeces were PCR positive for B. pilosicoli only, and B. pilosicoli was isolated from the faeces. These new faecal PCR protocols should be valuable for future studies on the epidemiology of intestinal spirochaete infections in human populations, particularly as it is not currently possible to isolate B. aalborgi from faeces.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Spirochaetes in oral infections.

Oral spirochaetes, which are small-, medium- or large-sized, include species of the genus Treponema, many of which have not yet been cultured. They are found in root canal infections, pericoronitis, gingivitis and periodontitis, constituting up to 10% of the flora in endodontic abscesses, 30% in acute necrotizing ulcerative gingivitis, and 56% in advanced marginal periodontitis. The strong proteolytic activity of these organisms probably make them causes of infection rather than consequences. Being able to penetrate tissue, they bring their enzymes, metabolic products, and endotoxins, in direct contact with target cells. This may perturb essential functions of host cells and immunoglobulins. Enzyme activities may also help fulfil the complex growth requirements of spirochaetes in vivo. Reaction between infected periodontal tissue and monoclonal antibodies to Treponema pallidum has suggested that uncharacterized pathogen-related oral spirochaetes have surface structures and functions analogue to this well recognized pathogen. This warrants a more intensified search for the role of spirochaetes in oral infections.

Dental Pulp Diseases↗
PubMed1985

Successful cultivation of spirochetes from skin lesions of patients with erythema chronicum migrans Afzelius and acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans.

Spirochetes could be cultivated from 9 out of 13 skin biopsies from patients with erythema chronicum migrans Afzelius (ECMA) and from 2 out of 5 biopsies from patients with acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans (ACA) by using a newly modified serumless Kelly's medium. The different spirochete strains grew best at a low oxygen tension. Attempts to grow spirochetes from blood and cerebrospinal fluid failed. The cultivation of spirochetes from secondary ECMA lesions favours the presumption that a spirochetemia may occur in ECMA. The isolation of spirochetes from an ACA patient who had a disease duration of greater than 10 years proves that the spirochetes may survive in the human body for a considerable time.

Acrodermatitis↗
PubMed2002

Concurrent spirochaetal infections of the feet and colon of cattle in Japan.

OBJECTIVE: To describe spirochaetal infections in the feet and colon of cattle affected with papillomatous digital dermatitis (PDD) and colitis respectively. PROCEDURE: Eighty-two slaughtered animals were macroscopically examined for the presence of PDD. Tissues of two cattle affected with PDD were examined by histology, immunohistochemistry, electron microscopy and bacteriology for spirochaetal infection. RESULTS: Two adult cattle (a 2-year-old beef bullock and 7-year-old Holstein dairy cow) were affected with PDD. Histologically, numerous argyrophilic and gram-negative filamentous or spiral spirochaetes were found deep in the PDD lesions. Epithelial and goblet cell hyperplasia and oedema of the lamina propria mucosa with macrophage and lymphocyte infiltration were observed in the caecum and colon in the cattle. Numerous spirochaetes were present in the crypts and some had invaded epithelial and goblet cells, and caused their degeneration. Immunohistochemically the organisms stained positively with polyclonal antisera against Treponema pallidum and Brachyspira (Serpulina) hyodysenteriae. Ultrastructurally, the intestinal spirochaetes were similar to the spirochaetes in PDD. They were 6 to 14 pm long, 0.2 to 0.3 pm wide and had 4 to 6 coils and 9 axial filaments per cell. Campylobacter species were isolated from the PDD and intestinal lesions, but spirochaetes were not. CONCLUSION: Concurrent infections with morphologically similar spirochaetal organisms may occur in the feet and colon of cattle in Japan.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Lyme disease-a tick-borne spirochetosis?

A treponema-like spirochete was detected in and isolated from adult Ixodes dammini, the incriminated tick vector of Lyme disease. Causally related to the spirochetes may be long-lasting cutaneous lesions that appeared on New Zealand White rabbits 10 to 12 weeks after infected ticks fed on them. Samples of serum from patients with Lyme disease were shown by indirect immunofluorescence to contain antibodies to this agent. It is suggested that the newly discovered spirochete is involved in the etiology of Lyme disease.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Penicillin-binding proteins in the pathogenic intestinal spirochete Brachyspira pilosicoli.

Penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs) of slightly different molecular masses (94, 62 or 68, 42 or 50, 25, and 22 kDa) were identified in one human and two porcine Brachyspira pilosicoli strains. Identification of PBPs of B. pilosicoli provides a basis for characterization of the genes encoding these proteins among pathogenic intestinal spirochetes of humans and animals.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Lyme disease spirochetes and ixodid tick spirochetes share a common surface antigenic determinant defined by a monoclonal antibody.

Ixodid tick-associated spirochetes have been implicated as the etiological agents of Lyme disease. We raised a murine monoclonal antibody (H5332) against a spirochete, strain B31, isolated from Ixodes dammini ticks. In indirect immunofluorescence assays and western blot analyses, H5332 reacted with whole cells or isolated components of not only strain B31 but also spirochetes isolated from Ixodes ricinus ticks, a field mouse, a raccoon, and patients with Lyme disease. In contrast, H5332 did not bind to representative borreliae, treponemes, and leptospires. Using indirect immunofluorescence assays and immune electron microscopy, we found the H5332 determinant to be diffusely distributed over the surface of prefixed spirochetes but to be aggregated in patches when the organisms were incubated with H5332 and a second ligand before fixation. Radioimmunoprecipitation and western blot studies revealed the H5332 determinant to be either on or tightly associated with an abundant outer membrane protein with an apparent subunit molecular weight of 31,000.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

Human phagocyte interactions with the Lyme disease spirochete.

The interaction between human polymorphonuclear leukocytes and monocytes and the Lyme disease spirochete was investigated by incubating phagocytes with microorganisms adherent to plastic or glass surfaces. Both cell populations readily phagocytized and killed spirochetes, and antibodies facilitated but were not essential for phagocytosis.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Bacteriophage in the Ixodes dammini spirochete, etiological agent of Lyme disease.

A bacteriophage with a B-3 morphology was detected by electron microscopy in a spirochete isolated from the tick Ixodes dammini. It has a 40- to 50-nm elongated head and a tail 50 to 70 nm in length. It appears devoid of collars or kite-tail structure. The spirochete has been identified as the causative agent of Lyme disease.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Intestinal spirochetosis: morphological characterization and cultivation of the spirochete Brachyspira aalborgi gen. nov., sp. nov.

The ultrastructure of spirochetes obtained from rectal biopsies of patients with intestinal spirochetosis was studied by means of negative staining and ultrathin sectioning. The cells were sigmoidal with tapered ends, 2 to 6 microns long, with a wavelength of 2 microns. Four flagella were inserted at each end of the cells. The maximal cell width was about 0.2 microns. The spirochetes were cultured on tryptose soy blood agar plates. They were anaerobic and grew, although very slowly, at 37 to 38.5 degrees C in an atmosphere of 5% CO2-95% H2. Two types of colonies could be distinguished. The growth characteristics and the morphology of the isolated spirochetes differ from those of previously isolated spirochetal strains. Consequently, it is proposed that the present strains constitute a new genus, Brachyspira, of the family Treponemataceae. The type species is Brachyspira aalborgi, the type strain of which is 513A (NCTC 11492).

Culture Media↗
PubMed1987

New infectious spirochete isolated from short-tailed shrews and white-footed mice.

A spirochete with two periplasmic flagella was isolated from the blood or tissues of spleens and kidneys from short-tailed shrews (Blarina brevicauda) and white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus) in Connecticut and Minnesota. After inoculation, the shrew-mouse spirochete infected Swiss mice and Syrian hamsters. This spirochete is morphologically and serologically distinct from the species of Treponema, Borrelia, Leptospira, and Spirochaeta examined.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Certain canine weakly beta-hemolytic intestinal spirochetes are phenotypically and genotypically related to spirochetes associated with human and porcine intestinal spirochetosis.

Four canine weakly beta-hemolytic intestinal spirochetes associated with intestinal spirochetosis (IS-associated WBHIS) were compared with IS-associated human and porcine WBHIS and the type species for Serpulina hyodysenteriae and S. innocens by using phenotypic and genotypic parameters. The IS-associated canine, human, and porcine WBHIS belonged to a phyletic group distinct from but related to previously described Serpulina type species.

Animals↗