JCM Figure table search 04
Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Swidsinski, A.
Right arrow Articles by Lochs, H.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Swidsinski, A.
Right arrow Articles by Lochs, H.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, July 2005, p. 3380-3389, Vol. 43, No. 7
0095-1137/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.43.7.3380-3389.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Spatial Organization and Composition of the Mucosal Flora in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Alexander Swidsinski,1* Jutta Weber,1 Vera Loening-Baucke,1 Laura P. Hale,2 and Herbert Lochs1

Innere Klinik, Gastroenterologie, Charité Humboldt Universität, 10098 Berlin, Germany,1 Department of Pathology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 277102

Received 29 September 2004/ Returned for modification 7 December 2004/ Accepted 3 March 2005

The composition and spatial organization of the mucosal flora in biopsy specimens from patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD; either Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis), self-limiting colitis, irritable-bowel syndrome (IBS), and healthy controls were investigated by using a broad range of fluorescent bacterial group-specific rRNA-targeted oligonucleotide probes. Each group included 20 subjects. Ten patients who had IBD and who were being treated with antibiotics were also studied. Use of nonaqueous Carnoy fixative to preserve the mucus layer was crucial for detection of bacteria adherent to the mucosal surface (mucosal bacteria). No biofilm was detectable in formalin-fixed biopsy specimens. Mucosal bacteria were found at concentrations greater than 109/ml in 90 to 95% of IBD patients, 95% of patients with self-limiting colitis, 65% of IBS patients, and 35% of healthy controls. The mean density of the mucosal biofilm was 2 powers higher in IBD patients than in patients with IBS or controls, and bacteria were mostly adherent. Bacteroides fragilis was responsible for >60% of the biofilm mass in patients with IBD but for only 30% of the biofilm mass in patients with self-limiting colitis and <15% of the biofilm mass in patients with IBS. In contrast, bacteria which positively hybridized with the probe specific for Eubacterium rectale-Clostridium coccoides accounted for >40% of the biofilm in IBS patients but for <15% of the biofilm in IBD patients. In patients treated with (5-ASA) or antibiotics, the biofilm could be detected with 4,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole but did not hybridize with fluorescence in situ hybridization probes. A Bacteroides fragilis biofilm is the main feature of IBD. This was not previously recognized due to a lack of appropriate tissue fixation. Both 5-ASA and antibiotics suppress but do not eliminate the adherent biofilm.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Innere Klinik, Gastroenterologie, Charité, 10098 Berlin, Germany. Phone: 49 30 450 514 102. Fax: 49 30 450 514 923. E-mail: alexander.swidsinski{at}charite.de.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, July 2005, p. 3380-3389, Vol. 43, No. 7
0095-1137/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.43.7.3380-3389.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:



Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. Clin. Microbiol. Rev.
Clin. Vaccine Immunol. ALL ASM JOURNALS

Copyright © 2005 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.