Effect of a soluble bacterial carbohydrate fraction on the viscosity of intestinal contents in healthy subjects and patients with Crohn's disease.

Supernatants of faecal suspensions from patients with Crohn's disease (CD) showed much lower viscosity than those from healthy subjects. Material responsible for the viscosity could be precipitated with ethanol. Gel filtration indicated that the viscosity was not due to the glycoprotein fraction but to a fraction with higher molecular weight and relatively high contents of muramic acid suggesting a bacterial origin.

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.

[Serodiagnosis of Crohn's disease].

Three serological tests, recommended as being of diagnostic value for Crohn's disease, were evaluated in 39 patients with Crohn's disease and--as controls--in 27 patients with ulcerative colitis, 45 healthy persons and 65 patients with inflammatory diseases other than Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis. The tests were the determination of (1) serum antibodies to pseudomonas-like organisms (PLO) by means of indirect immunofluorescence; (2) agglutinating serum antibodies to 4 strains of anaerobic gram-positive coccoid rods (species of Eubacterium, Peptostreptococcus and Coprococcus); and (3) serum antibodies to perinuclear antigens in buccal mucosa of Crohn's disease patients by immunofluorescence. The results indicate that the occurrence of high-titer antibodies to PLO is reasonably sensitive for Crohn's disease, but has a low specificity, and that antibodies to perinuclear antigens in buccal mucosa have both low sensitivity and specificity.

Selected bacterial antibodies in Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.

Agglutinins to four strains of anaerobic gram-positive coccoid rods (species of Eubacterium, Peptostreptococcus and Coprococcus) were found in significantly higher frequency in Crohn's disease (CD) than in ulcerative colitis (UC) and in other diseased control subjects and were virtually absent in apparently healthy subjects. When the posterior probability of having CD was calculated on the basis of these agglutination reactions, 64% of patients with CD and 34% of patients with UC but only 10% of diseased controls and none of the healthy controls were regarded as 'probable' or 'definite' cases of CD. However, the posterior probability of CD did not sharply differentiate between CD and UC but indicated chronic inflammatory bowel disease.

An international study of agglutinins to Eubacterium, Peptostreptococcus and Coprococcus species in Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis and control subjects.

The world-wide occurrence of agglutinating antibodies to four coccoid anaerobes belonging to Eubacterium, Peptostreptococcus and Coprococcus spp. was investigated in 937 coded sera from patients suffering from Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, various other diseases and from healthy controls. Positive results were found in 59% of patients with Crohn's disease, 29% of patients with ulcerative colitis, and 8% of both diseased and healthy control subjects.

Factors determining the occurrence of serum agglutinins to eubacterium and peptostreptococcus species in patients with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.

Recently, the demonstration of serum agglutinins to Eubacterium and Peptostreptococcus strains has been found to be useful as a diagnostic test for Crohn's disease. Therefore, conditions determining the occurrence of these antibodies were studied in patients with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Localization of Crohn's disease in the colon, the presence of fistulae and serum levels of immunoglobulins were found to be contributory determinants for the occurrence of the agglutinins.

Antibodies to Eubacterium and Peptostreptococcus species and the estimated probability of Crohn's disease.

Anaerobic coccoid rods belonging to species of Eubacterium and Peptostreptococcus agglutinate more frequently with sera from patients with Crohn's disease than with sera from patients suffering from other diseases and from healthy subjects. Results of agglutination test with four strains of coccoid anaerobes were used to estimate the probability that a patient suffers from Crohn's disease. The data on healthy subjects and patients with Crohn's disease were subjected to logistic discriminant analysis.

Serum agglutinins to Eubacterium and Peptostreptococcus species in Crohn's and other diseases.

Sera from patients suffering from Crohn's and other diseases and from healthy subjects were tested for agglutinins to anaerobic, gram-positive coccoid rods belonging to species of Eubacterium and Peptostreptococcus. Four strains labelled Eubacterium contortum (two strains), Eubacterium rectale and Peptostreptococcus productus were agglutinated by a higher percentage of sera from patients with Crohn's disease than from healthy subjects and from patients with liver and intestinal diseases (including ulcerative colitis), ankylosing spondylitis, granulomatous diseases, diseases of immunity and malignancies. The agglutinins were of the IgG and IgM classes and strain-specific; the titres were low.

The faecal flora of patients with Crohn's disease.

The faecal flora of patients with Crohn's disease was compared with that of healthy subjects. In patients with terminal ileitis, numbers of anaerobic gram-negative and coccoid rods (species of Eubacterium and peptostreptococcus) were higher than in the controls whereas anaerobic gram-positive rods and cocci and aerobes occurred in normal numbers. The composition of the flora was neither influenced by duration of the disease nor by ileocaecal resection.

Agglutinins to bacteria in Crohn's disease.

Sera from patients with Crohn's disease were tested for antibodies against organisms which are thought to cause inflammatory bowel disease in animals, or have been implicated in human Crohn's disease. Control sera were collected from healthy individuals and patients with ulcerative colitis. Sera from Crohn's disease and controls failed to agglutinate Clostridium colinum or Campylobacter sputorum subsp.

The intestinal flora of colonization-resistant mice.

To facilitate the isolation of anaerobes from cultures in which swarming organisms were present Roux flasks were adapted to provide anaerobic conditions. Using these flasks, five species of anaerobes were isolated from the caecum of mice resistant to colonization with Escherichia coli and other Gram-negative organisms. These species accounted for the majority of organisms seen in films of caecal material.