title: Seroprevalence of Fusobacterium varium in ulcerative colitis patients in Japan.
abstract: The etiology of ulcerative colitis (UC) is unknown, while an exacerbating factor of this disease is associated with infectious agents. Recently, Fusobacterium varium has been found in the mucosa of a significant number of patients with UC. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of F. varium infection based on serology, evaluate the relationship between F. varium seropositivity and UC, and determine the clinical characteristics of infected UC individuals. Seropositive patients were determined by immunoblotting with F. varium ATCC 8501 antigen. We also identified cross-reactive protein spots by peptide mass mapping analysis. These protein spots showed putative caseinolytic protease protein, putative translation elongation factor G, and putative enolase. Immunoblotting with F. varium antigen revealed signals with sera from 45 (40.2%) of the 112 UC patients and 20 (15.6%) of the 128 healthy controls, respectively (P<0.01). In terms of disease activity, seropositive UC patients were more likely to have clinically severe disease than seronegative UC patients. Disease location in seropositive patients was more extensive than the seronegative patients. In conclusion, F. varium is a predominant infection in the UC population and is a potential pathogen of UC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infection and Prevention Medicine, Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Aichi, Japan. minami@med.nagoya-cu.ac.jp
authors.forename: Masaaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Minami
authors.forename: Takafumi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ando
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Okamoto
authors.forename: Nobutaka
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sasaki
authors.forename: Teruko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ohkura
authors.forename: Keizo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Torii
authors.forename: Tadao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hasegawa
authors.forename: Michio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ohta
authors.forename: Hidemi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Goto
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood; D003093:Colitis, Ulcerative / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications* / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D005673:Fusobacterium / Q000276:immunology*; D005674:Fusobacterium Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008875:Middle Aged; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial