Mycobacterium ulcerans DNA not detected in faecal samples from Buruli ulcer patients: results of a pilot study

It has recently been shown that in a Buruli ulcer (BU) endemic region of southeastern Australia, significant numbers of possums (native tree-dwelling marsupials) have clinical BU disease. Furthermore, based on quantitative PCR (qPCR) analysis, animals with BU lesions (and some without) shed M. ulcer...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2011-05, Vol.6 (5), p.e19611-e19611
Main Authors: Sarfo, Fred S, Lavender, Caroline J, Fyfe, Janet A M, Johnson, Paul D R, Stinear, Timothy P, Phillips, Richard O
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Animals
Antigens
Bacteria
Biology
Buruli ulcer
Buruli Ulcer - diagnosis
Buruli Ulcer - microbiology
Case-Control Studies
Child
Child, Preschool
Culicidae
Deoxyribonucleic acid
DNA
DNA, Bacterial - analysis
DNA, Bacterial - genetics
Ecology
Family Characteristics
Feces
Feces - microbiology
Female
Gastrointestinal tract
Genetic research
Genomics
Humans
Immunology
Infant
Infectious diseases
Laboratories
Lesions
Male
Medicine
Middle Aged
Mosquitoes
Mycobacterium
Mycobacterium ulcerans
Mycobacterium ulcerans - genetics
Patients
Pilot Projects
Polymerase Chain Reaction
Reproducibility of Results
Sensitivity and Specificity
Studies
Ulcers
Vectors (Biology)
Young Adult
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Summary:It has recently been shown that in a Buruli ulcer (BU) endemic region of southeastern Australia, significant numbers of possums (native tree-dwelling marsupials) have clinical BU disease. Furthermore, based on quantitative PCR (qPCR) analysis, animals with BU lesions (and some without) shed M. ulcerans DNA in their faeces, indicative of bacterial loads of up to 10(8) organisms/gram. These findings led us to propose that humans might also harbour M. ulcerans in their gastrointestinal tract and shed the bacterium in their faeces. We conducted a pilot study and collected faecal swabs from 26 patients with confirmed BU and 31 healthy household controls. Faecal samples were also collected from 10 healthy controls from non-endemic regions in Ghana. All 67 specimens were negative when tested by IS2404 PCR. The detection sensitivity of this method was ≥10(4) bacteria per gram (wet-weight) of human faecal material. We conclude that the human gastrointestinal tract is unlikely to be a significant reservoir of M. ulcerans.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0019611