title: Intestinal spirochaetosis associated with hyperplastic and adenomatous colonic polyps.
abstract: Intestinal spirochaetosis is a human colonic infection due to Brachyspira aalborgi and Brachyspira pilosicoli causing various abdominal complaints. Although the presence of healthy epithelial cells was hypothesized to be essential for the adhesion of spirochaetes to the colonic mucosa, their adhesion to hyperplastic and adenomatous colonic polyps has been observed recently. We report a case of a woman with long-standing abdominal symptoms, in whom spirochaetes were found on the colonic mucosa surrounding an adenocarcinoma in the biopsies collected during eight years of follow-up. Spirochaetes were found attached to normal mucosa, to hyperplastic and to adenomatous polyps, but not to the epithelium of the carcinoma. The rectal biopsy collected during the last follow-up colonoscopy was subjected to histopathology and to a specific examination for brachyspires, demonstrating the presence of B. pilosicoli DNA. This report could stimulate microbiological investigations during the follow-up of colonic polyps in order to explain whether the persistence of abdominal symptoms in such patients could be caused by a colonic spirochaetosis susceptible to eradication by a targeted therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Section of Microbiology, University of Parma, Italy. adriana.calderaro@unipr.it
authors.forename: Adriana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Calderaro
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gorrini
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Montecchini
authors.forename: Vincenzo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Villanacci
authors.forename: Gabrio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bassotti
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dettori
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chezzi
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology; D018256:Adenomatous Polyps / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology; D000328:Adult; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006965:Hyperplasia / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D013145:Spirochaetales Infections / Q000150:complications*