The obligate anaerobic faecal flora of patients with Crohn's disease and their first-degree relatives.
The obligate anaerobic faecal floras of patients with Crohn's disease, their first-degree relatives, and healthy control subjects were compared. The flora of Crohn's patients contained more anaerobic gram-positive coccoid rods and gram-negative rods than that of healthy subjects; on this basis patients and healthy subjects formed two clusters with minor overlap. Nine of 26 children of Crohn's patients were also included within the Crohn's disease cluster. During 5 to 7 years of follow-up study 3 of them presented with remitting abdominal pain, diarrhoea, or weight loss, and in 1 of them Crohn's disease was diagnosed; none of the 17 children with a normal flora showed symptoms possibly due to Crohn's disease. It is concluded that the abnormal flora may be indigenous to subjects predisposed to Crohn's disease, suggesting a direct or indirect relationship between the abnormal faecal flora and Crohn's disease.
Van de Merwe
J P
JP
Dept. of Immunology, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Schröder
A M
AM
Wensinck
F
F
Hazenberg
M P
MP
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001421:Bacteria, Anaerobic / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002648:Child; D003424:Crohn Disease / Q000235:genetics / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged