What causes sprue?

The exact cause of Tropical Sprue is not known. It is an acquired disorder that may be related to environmental and nutritional factors, or Tropical Sprue may be related to an infectious organism (either viral or bacterial), dietary toxin, parasitic infestation, or a nutritional deficiency such as folic acid.

Is Whipple disease genetic?

Is Whipple’s Disease Hereditary? Unlike some diseases with clear hereditary causes, T. whipplei infections are caused by bacteria, so theoretically anyone who comes into contact with Tropheryma Whipplei bacteria could be at risk for infection.

Is there a test for Whipple disease?

The diagnosis of Whipple disease is made by a biopsy of the intestine and identification of the organism. Current diagnostic criteria require positive results for PAS-positive foamy macrophages in the small bowel biopsy.

How is Whipple disease diagnosed?

How does Whipple’s disease affect the brain?

Approximately 20%–40% of patients suffer from neurological manifestations such as encephalopathy, ophthalmoplegia, myoclonus, ataxia, upper motor neuron manifestations, cognitive impairment, and hypothalamic manifestations.

What is Tropheryma whipplei?

Dongyou Liu, Frank W. Austin, in Molecular Medical Microbiology (Second Edition), 2015 Tropheryma whipplei (formerly Tropheryma whippelii) is a Gram-positive bacterium that causes a rare, chronic infectious systemic disease, predominantly in middle-aged Caucasian men.

How does Tropheryma whipplei endocarditis differ from classic whipple disease?

Tropheryma whipplei endocarditis differs from classic Whipple disease, which primarily affects the gastrointestinal system. We diagnosed 28 cases of T. whipplei endocarditis in Marseille, France, and compared them with cases reported in the literature.

What is the inflammatory response to whipple’s disease?

Often there is no significant inflammatory response, but epithelioid granulomas in association with Whipple’s disease are well documented. 157 Electron microscopy and PCR assays may be useful diagnostic aids. The differential diagnosis includes MAI infection and other intracellular organisms, such as Histoplasma capsulatum and R. equi.

What is the GC content of the causative agent of whipple disease?

Tropheryma whipplei, the causative agent of Whipple’s disease, has a GC content of 46.3%, which is the lowest so far reported for Actinobacteria. Dongyou Liu, Frank W. Austin, in Molecular Medical Microbiology (Second Edition), 2015