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The diagnosis and treatment of whipple’s disease

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Abstract

Whipple’s disease is a rare, chronic, and systemic infectious disease caused by the ubiquitously occuring bacterium Tropheryma whippelii. For two reasons, the disease represents a good example for documenting the input of modern molecular-based techniques into pathogenetic, diagnostic, and therapeutic concepts in clinical medicine. First, the unidentified and uncultivable causative organism has been characterized by novel molecular-genetic techniques. Second, in contrast to other chronic inflammatory disorders, clinical manifestations of T. whippelii infection seem to be based on reduced T-cell helper type 1 (TH1) activity. These findings have led to an improved pathophysiologic understanding of the disease and to new aspects in treatment strategies that are discussed in this paper.

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  1. Deutsche Klinik für Diagnostik, Aukammallee 33, 65191, Wiesbaden, Germany

    Thomas Marth MD

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  1. Thomas Marth MD
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Marth, T. The diagnosis and treatment of whipple’s disease. Curr Allergy Asthma Rep 1, 566–571 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11882-001-0066-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11882-001-0066-7

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