High prevalence of viable Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis in Crohn’s disease

Table 1 Characteristics of patients with crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis n (%)

Phenotypic characteristics	CD CARD15/NOD2 (+) (n = 15)	CD patients CARD15/NOD2 (-) (n = 15)	UC patients (n = 29)
Male/female	5 (33.4)/10 (66.7)	6 (49.1)/9 (50.9)	15 (51.7)/14 (47.3)
Median age at diagnosis (range, yr)	27 (14-48)	27 (14-48)
A1, < 40	14 (93.4)	14 (93.4)
A2, ≥ 40	1 (6.6)	1 (6.6)
Family history	4 (26.7)	3 (21.4)	1 (3.4)
Disease behavior
Nonstricturing, nonpenetrating (B1)	6 (40)	6 (40)
Stricturing (B2)	3 (20)	3 (20)
Penetrating (B3)	6 (40)	6 (40)
Perianal disease	7 (46.6)	7 (46.6)
Disease location
Terminal ileum (L1)	6 (40)	6 (40)
Colon (L2)	3 (20)	3 (20)
Ileocolon (L3)	5 (33.4)	5 (33.4)
Upper gastrointestinal (L4)	1 (6.6)	1 (6.6)
Pancolitis			15 (51.7)
Left side			14 (48.3)
Treatment
Surgery	6 (40)	6 (40)	1 (3.4)
Infliximab	8 (53.3)	6 (40)	0 (0)
Immunosuppressants	7 (46.6)	7 (46.6)	10 (34.5)
No immunosuppressive therapy	5 (33.4)	5 (33.4)	19 (65.5)
Genotype characteristics
At least one CARD15/NOD2 mutation	15 (100)	0 (0)	4 (13.8)
ATG16L1 (rs2241880) AA/GA/GG (n)	0/9/5	1/9/4	2/11/13
IRGM (rs4958847) AA/GA/GG (n)	0/5/8	1/4/9	0/7/15
IL23R (rs7517847) GG/TG/TT (n)	2/6/3	2/5/7	3/10/13

CD: Crohn’s disease; UC: Ulcerative colitis.

Table 2 Results of samples and cultures in patients and controls (positive) %

	Original blood samples MAP DNA	BACTEC culture 8 wk of incubation (Bottle I)		BACTEC culture 18 mo of incubation (Bottle II)
		BACTEC MGTI1	Dot-blot MAP	BACTEC MGTI1	Acid-fast Ziehl-Neelsen staining	Spheroplasts
CD patients (n = 30)	100	0	100	0	0	100
UC patients (n = 29)	100	0	100	0	0	3.4
Healthy controls (n = 10)	100	0	100	0	0	0

¹Automatically detected; CD: Crohn's disease; UC: Ulcerative colitis; MAP: Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis.