Biomaterial Database

Bacillary characteristics in Whipple's disease: an electron microscopic study. 1981

W O Dobbins, and H Kawanishi

Extensive electron microscopic observations of 19 intestinal biopsies obtained from 13 patients with untreated Whipple's disease are reported. The outstanding feature is the profuse presence of bacilli free within the lamina propria of the intestinal mucosa and the presence of numerous macrophages containing ingested bacilli. Intestinal epithelial cell invasion by bacilli is identified in 11 patients, and evidence of bacillary invasion is identified within the lymphatic endothelium of 4 patients, within capillary endothelium of 3 patients, within polymorphonuclear leukocytes of 5 patients, and within plasma cells of 2 patients. Reported for the first time is the presence of bacilli within intrinsic smooth muscle of the lamina propria of 2 patients, within intraepithelial lymphocytes of 1 patient, and in mast cells of 1 patient. These observations suggest that the Whipple bacillus is an intracellular pathogen. Intracellular pathogens, unlike pyogenic bacteria, may survive within macrophages. The morphologic appearance of the Whipple bacillus is reviewed. Emphasis is placed upon the unique nature of an outer "membrane" external to the cell wall of Whipple bacilli, a feature that is one of the identifying characteristics of the Whipple bacillus and that may explain the inability to culture the bacillus in vitro.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007421	Intestine, Small	The portion of the GASTROINTESTINAL TRACT between the PYLORUS of the STOMACH and the ILEOCECAL VALVE of the LARGE INTESTINE. It is divisible into three portions: the DUODENUM, the JEJUNUM, and the ILEUM.	Small Intestine,Intestines, Small,Small Intestines
D008061	Whipple Disease	A chronic systemic infection by a gram-positive bacterium, Tropheryma whippelii, mainly affecting the SMALL INTESTINE but also the JOINTS; CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM; and the CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM. The disease is characterized by fat deposits in the INTESTINAL MUCOSA and LYMPH NODES, malabsorption, DIARRHEA with fatty stools, MALNUTRITION, and ARTHRITIS.	Lipodystrophy, Intestinal,Whipple's Disease,Disease, Whipple,Disease, Whipple's,Intestinal Lipodystrophy,Whipples Disease
D008854	Microscopy, Electron	Microscopy using an electron beam, instead of light, to visualize the sample, thereby allowing much greater magnification. The interactions of ELECTRONS with specimens are used to provide information about the fine structure of that specimen. In TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY the reactions of the electrons that are transmitted through the specimen are imaged. In SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY an electron beam falls at a non-normal angle on the specimen and the image is derived from the reactions occurring above the plane of the specimen.	Electron Microscopy
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D001419	Bacteria	One of the three domains of life (the others being Eukarya and ARCHAEA), also called Eubacteria. They are unicellular prokaryotic microorganisms which generally possess rigid cell walls, multiply by cell division, and exhibit three principal forms: round or coccal, rodlike or bacillary, and spiral or spirochetal. Bacteria can be classified by their response to OXYGEN: aerobic, anaerobic, or facultatively anaerobic; by the mode by which they obtain their energy: chemotrophy (via chemical reaction) or PHOTOTROPHY (via light reaction); for chemotrophs by their source of chemical energy: CHEMOLITHOTROPHY (from inorganic compounds) or chemoorganotrophy (from organic compounds); and by their source for CARBON; NITROGEN; etc.; HETEROTROPHY (from organic sources) or AUTOTROPHY (from CARBON DIOXIDE). They can also be classified by whether or not they stain (based on the structure of their CELL WALLS) with CRYSTAL VIOLET dye: gram-negative or gram-positive.	Eubacteria