title: Human intestinal spirochaetosis in two ulcerative colitis patients.
abstract: A histological examination of colonic biopsies of the longitudinal and irregularly-shaped ulcerative lesions of a 37-year-old man and 61-year-old man with ulcerative colitis showed so-called "fringe formation," a typical finding of Brachyspira infection. The antibody titer to Brachyspira aalborgi showed marked elevation in both cases, and the patients were each treated with 1,000 mg of metronidazole for 14 days. Colonoscopy performed after treatment showed an improvement in the ulcerative lesions in both patients. These results indicate the possibility that intestinal spirochaetosis infection should be considered as an infectious complication in patients with ulcerative colitis receiving long-term steroid therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Tokyo Medical University Ibaraki Medical Center, Japan.
authors.forename: Junichi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Iwamoto
authors.forename: Sho
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ogata
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Honda
authors.forename: Yoshifumi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.forename: Masashi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Murakami
authors.forename: Tadashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ikegami
authors.forename: Yoshikazu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Adachi
authors.forename: Yasushi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Matsuzaki
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001706:Biopsy; D017400:Brachyspira / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D003093:Colitis, Ulcerative / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D003106:Colon / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology; D003113:Colonoscopy / Q000379:methods*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013145:Spirochaetales Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000382:microbiology