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Microorganisms
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Tropheryma whipplei Infection and Whipple’s Disease
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Tropheryma whipplei Infection and Whipple’s Disease

A special issue of Microorganisms (ISSN 2076-2607). This special issue belongs to the section "Medical Microbiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 May 2022) | Viewed by 4596

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Anna Beltrame

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Infectious, Tropical Diseases and Microbiology, I.R.C.C.S. Sacro Cuore Don Calabria Hospital, Via Sempreboni 5, 37024 Negrar di Valpolicella, Italy
Interests: Tropheryma whipplei colonization; classical Whipple’s disease; localized Whipple’s disease; treatment; immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Chiara Piubelli

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Infectious - Tropical Diseases and Microbiology, IRCCS Sacro Cuore Don Calabria Hospital, Negrar, Italy
Interests: infectious and tropical diseases; molecular biology; molecular diagnostics; 'omics; biomarkers; pathogen pathophysiology; host-pathogen interaction
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Tropheryma whipplei is a bacterium of the order of Actinomycetes that can affect almost any organ. It is responsible for Whipple’s disease, and for acute (fever, pneumonia, diarrhea) and chronic (endocarditis, arthritis, central nervous system involvement, uveitis, and others) manifestations. However, asymptomatic intestinal colonization of T. whipplei has been described. The colonization rate appears to vary according to geographic area, age, and a number of risk factors (poor sanitation and health or immunodeficiency). The hypothesized mode of acquiring the bacterium is saliva transmission in developed countries and oro-fecal transmission in low-income areas.

Even though many years have passed since the discovery of the disease , there is still a lack of knowledge about this bacterium and the natural history of the disease.

Why is the prevalence of colonization higher in children? Is there a certain genetic predisposition for the development of the disease? Are there more virulent genotypes? What is the best therapeutic scheme that can be recommended, and how should patients in therapy be followed up? Should subjects undergoing biologic therapy be screened for T. whipplei today now that non-invasive investigations exist? Although several diagnostic tools already exist, including histology, immunohistochemistry, and real-time PCR, many patients are diagnosed with severe disease several years after symptoms appear. These are the consequences of the scarce knowledge of the disease in clinical practice.

In this Special Issue of Microorganisms dedicated to Tropheryma whipplei infection and Whipple’s disease, we invite you to submit your contributions concerning any aspects related to the epidemiology, clinical manifestation, diagnostics, host–pathogen interaction, and management of patients with T. whipplei colonization or Whipple’s disease. 

Dr. Anna Beltrame
Dr. Chiara Piubelli
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Microorganisms is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Tropheryma whipplei
  • Whipple’s disease
  • epidemiology
  • colonization
  • PCR
  • genotypes
  • treatment

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

10 pages, 270 KiB  
Article
Tropheryma whipplei, Helicobacter pylori, and Intestinal Protozoal Co-Infections in Italian and Immigrant Populations: A Cross-Sectional Study
by Lucia Moro, Elena Pomari, Martina Leonardi, Giulia La Marca, Barbara Pajola, Cristina Mazzi, Chiara Piubelli and Anna Beltrame
Microorganisms 2022, 10(4), 769; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms10040769 - 2 Apr 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1687
Abstract
Tropheryma whipplei (TW), Helicobacter pylori (HP), and intestinal protozoa (IP) are widespread pathogens with similar routes of transmission and epidemiological risk factors. Epidemiological data on co-infection between TW, HP, and IP are scarce. We aim to more deeply investigate the co-infection rate for [...] Read more.
Tropheryma whipplei (TW), Helicobacter pylori (HP), and intestinal protozoa (IP) are widespread pathogens with similar routes of transmission and epidemiological risk factors. Epidemiological data on co-infection between TW, HP, and IP are scarce. We aim to more deeply investigate the co-infection rate for these pathogens, evaluating the risk factors and symptoms. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study conducted at the IRCCS Sacro Cuore Don Calabria Hospital in Northern Italy, a referral center for tropical and Whipple’s disease (WD). Stored stool samples from 143 subjects previously tested for TW DNA by real-time PCR were explored for HP and IP DNA detection. The virulence factor cagA was investigated in HP-positive patients. Results: A history of migration was reported significantly more in TW-positive than in negative subjects (34.1% vs. 9.1%, p = 0.001) and in HP-infected than in those non-infected (59.1% vs. 9.1%, p < 0.001). The HP infection rate differed significantly between TW-infected and uninfected groups (31.8% vs. 8.1%, p = 0.001), while no difference was observed for IP infection. Significantly higher TW intestinal colonization was found in HP-infected patients than in non-infected (63.6% vs. 24.8%, p < 0.001). In addition, the proportion of Blastocysts positive finding was also significantly higher in HP-infected than in non-infected (40.9% vs. 17.4%, p = 0.018). Conclusions: The present study is the first to report a high TW and HP co-infection rate. To reduce the risk of morbidity from a chronic infection of either pathogen, clinicians may consider TW-HP molecular screening on the same stool sample for patients with suspected HP disease or WD, particularly in case of travel history. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tropheryma whipplei Infection and Whipple’s Disease)
10 pages, 1614 KiB  
Article
Intestinal Colonization with Tropheryma whipplei—Clinical and Immunological Implications for HIV Positive Adults in Ghana
by Kirsten Alexandra Eberhardt, Fred Stephen Sarfo, Eva-Maria Klupp, Albert Dompreh, Veronica Di Cristanziano, Edmund Osei Kuffour, Richard Boateng, Betty Norman, Richard Odame Phillips, Martin Aepfelbacher and Torsten Feldt
Microorganisms 2021, 9(8), 1781; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms9081781 - 22 Aug 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2130
Abstract
Background: Recent studies demonstrated higher prevalence rates of Tropheryma whipplei (T. whipplei) in HIV positive than in HIV negative subjects. However, associations with the immune status in HIV positive participants were conflicting. Methods: For this cross-sectional study, stool samples of 906 [...] Read more.
Background: Recent studies demonstrated higher prevalence rates of Tropheryma whipplei (T. whipplei) in HIV positive than in HIV negative subjects. However, associations with the immune status in HIV positive participants were conflicting. Methods: For this cross-sectional study, stool samples of 906 HIV positive and 98 HIV negative individuals in Ghana were tested for T. whipplei. Additionally, sociodemographic parameters, clinical symptoms, medical drug intake, and laboratory parameters were assessed. Results: The prevalence of T. whipplei was 5.85% in HIV positive and 2.04% in HIV negative participants. Within the group of HIV positive participants, the prevalence reached 7.18% in patients without co-trimoxazole prophylaxis, 10.26% in subjects with ART intake, and 12.31% in obese participants. Frequencies of clinical symptoms were not found to be higher in HIV positive T. whipplei carriers compared to T. whipplei negative participants. Markers of immune activation were lower in patients colonized with T. whipplei. Multivariate regression models demonstrated an independent relationship of a high CD4+ T cell count, a low HIV-1 viral load, and an obese body weight with the presence of T. whipplei. Conclusions: Among HIV positive individuals, T. whipplei colonization was associated with a better immune status but not with clinical consequences. Our data suggest that the withdrawal of co-trimoxazole chemoprophylaxis among people living with HIV on stable cART regimen may inadvertently increase the propensity towards colonization with T. whipplei. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tropheryma whipplei Infection and Whipple’s Disease)
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