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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, January 2002, p. 198-204, Vol. 40, No. 1
0095-1137/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JCM.40.1.198-204.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Quantitative Analysis of Mycobacterial and Propionibacterial DNA in Lymph Nodes of Japanese and European Patients with Sarcoidosis

Department of Human Pathology, School of Medicine, Tokyo Medical and Dental University,¹ First Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto,² Department of Pathology, Japanese Red Cross Medical Center,³ Fourth Department of Internal Medicine, Nippon Medical School,⁴ Department of Pneumology and Allergology, Ruhrlandklinik, Essen,⁵ Department of General and Experimental Pathology, Bochum University, Bochum, Germany,⁶ Sarcoidosis Clinic,⁷ Institute of Pathology, Niguarda Hospital, Milan, Italy,⁸ Interstitial Lung Disease Unit,⁹ Department of Histopathology, Royal Brompton Hospital, London, England,¹⁰ Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90033,¹¹

Received 22 March 2001/ Returned for modification 27 July 2001/ Accepted 30 September 2001

The cause(s) of sarcoidosis is unknown. Mycobacterium spp. are suspected in Europe and Propionibacterium spp. are suspected in Japan. The present international collaboration evaluated the possible etiological links between sarcoidosis and the suspected bacterial species. Formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded sections of biopsy samples of lymph nodes, one from each of 108 patients with sarcoidosis and 65 patients with tuberculosis, together with 86 control samples, were collected from two institutes in Japan and three institutes in Italy, Germany, and England. Genomes of Propionibacterium acnes, Propionibacterium granulosum, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis, and Escherichia coli (as the control) were counted by quantitative real-time PCR. Either P. acnes or P. granulosum was found in all but two of the sarcoid samples. M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis was found in no sarcoid sample. M. tuberculosis was found in 0 to 9% of the sarcoid samples but in 65 to 100% of the tuberculosis samples. In sarcoid lymph nodes, the total numbers of genomes of P. acnes or P. granulosum were far more than those of M. tuberculosis. P. acnes or P. granulosum was found in 0 to 60% of the tuberculosis and control samples, but the total numbers of genomes of P. acnes or P. granulosum in such samples were less than those in sarcoid samples. Propionibacterium spp. are more likely than Mycobacteria spp. to be involved in the etiology of sarcoidosis, not only in Japanese but also in European patients with sarcoidosis.

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