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Background
Inflammatory bowel diseases, such as Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis, cause inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract, most commonly the small intestine. The resulting inflammation causes abdominal pain, difficulty digesting food, and rectal bleeding along with other symptoms such as fever and weight loss. The current theory is that species of Mycobacterium, specifically Mycobacterium paratuberculosis, is the main cause of Crohn’s disease. Clinically diagnosing Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis is an expensive, time consuming process usually done by performing a colonoscopy, endoscopy, sigmoidoscopy or radiological technique sometimes requiring a biopsy. It is estimated that at least one million Americans have Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) of which one half suffer from Crohn’s disease and the other half from ulcerative colitis. Because of the lack of health care and high diagnostic costs, the actual number may be higher. Therefore, a less invasive, less expensive diagnostic test to accurately identify those with bowel disease due to a Myocobacterium paratuberculosis infection is highly desirable. Once positive tests are obtained using this method, patients can be treated with common anti-MAP compounds, such as clarithromycin, rifabutin, and clofazimine.
Invention
The present invention relates to detection of the bacterium Mycobacterium paratuberculosis (MAP) through a unique method using peripheral blood samples and in vitro cell culture to obtain sufficient growth of MAP for PCR analysis and MAP identification.
Application
The proposed method is a potential diagnostic test that would be used in a clinical setting to definitively identify patients with bowel disease due to Mycobacterium paratuberculosis (MAP), allowing for effective treatment with anti-MAP compounds.
Advantages
• Provides an efficient, less invasive, and less expensive method to diagnose patients with bowel disease caused by Mycobacterium paratuberculosis (MAP).
Lead Inventor
Saleh Naser, Ph.D.
Selected References
Naser SA, Ghobrial G, Romero C, Valentine JF. Culture of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis from the blood of patients with Crohn's disease. Lancet 2004; 364(9439): 1039-44.
Contact
Attn: Svetlana Shtrom, Ph.D., MBA
University of Central Florida
Office of Research and Commercialization
12201 Research Parkway, Suite 501
Orlando, Fl 32826-3246
Phone: 407.823.5150
Fax: 407.823.3299
sshtrom@mail.ucf.edu
UCF ID # 6763
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