Detection of Shigella spp. nucleic acids in the synovial tissue of Tunisian rheumatoid arthritis patients and other forms of arthritis by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction.

Enterobacterial components in the joints of patients are believed to contribute to a perpetuating inflammation leading to a reactive arthritis (ReA), a condition in which microbial agents cannot be recovered from the joint. At present, it is unclear whether nucleic acids from Shigella spp. are playing a pathogenic role in causing not only ReA but also other forms of arthritis.