Diagnosis of Whipple's Disease by Molecular Analysis of Peripheral Blood

• Published in: The New England journal of medicine Vol. 331; no. 20; pp. 1343 - 1346
• Main Authors: Lowsky, Robert, Archer, Gordon L, Fyles, Gillian, Minden, Mark, Curtis, John, Messner, Hans, Atkins, Harold, Patterson, Bruce, Willey, Barbara M, McGeer, Allison
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston, MA Massachusetts Medical Society 17.11.1994
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; Gastroenterology. Liver. Pancreas. Abdomen; Medical sciences; Other diseases. Semiology; Stomach. Duodenum. Small intestine. Colon. Rectum. Anus; Human; Diarrhea; Exploration; Bacteriological investigation; Blood; Infection; Polymerase chain reaction; Systemic disease; Bacteriosis; Digestive diseases; Intestinal disease; Diagnosis; Molecular biology; Whipple disease
• ISSN: 0028-4793; 1533-4406
• DOI: 10.1056/NEJM199411173312004

Whipple's disease is a systemic infection characterized most commonly by fever, weight loss, diarrhea, polyarthritis, and adenopathy 1 , 2 . Attempts to culture the causative organism have been unsuccessful, but microscopical examination of infected tissue, usually small-bowel-biopsy specimens or lymph nodes, reveals small gram-positive rods that appear as diastase-resistant intracytoplasmic inclusions on periodic acid-Schiff staining 2 . Electron microscopy reveals that these organisms possess a trilamellar membrane external to the cell wall, a finding usually associated with gram-negative bacteria 3 , 4 . Recent studies have shown that the specific identification of bacterial pathogens does not require culture but can be accomplished by molecular . . .