Brief Article
Copyright ©2012 Baishideng Publishing Group Co., Limited. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Apr 14, 2012; 18(14): 1628-1634
Published online Apr 14, 2012. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v18.i14.1628
Mucosa-associated bacteria in two middle-aged women diagnosed with collagenous colitis
Rita J Gustafsson, Bodil Ohlsson, Cecilia Benoni, Bengt Jeppsson, Crister Olsson
Rita J Gustafsson, Bodil Ohlsson, Cecilia Benoni, Department of Clinical Sciences, Gastroenterology Section, Skåne University Hospital, Lund University, 20502 Malmö, Sweden
Bengt Jeppsson, Department of Surgery, Skåne University Hospital, Lund University, 20502 Malmö, Sweden
Crister Olsson, Food Technology Engineering and Nutrition, Lund University, 22100 Lund, Sweden
Author contributions: Gustafsson RJ and Benoni C enrolled patients, performed colonoscopy and made substantial contributions to writing, drafting and revising the article critically; Ohlsson B and Jeppsson B made substantial contributions to the design, drafting and revising the article critically; Olsson C contributed to the design, data collection, analysis and interpretation and to the writing of the manuscript; all authors approved the version to be published.
Supported by Grants from Development Foundations of Region Skåne and from Skåne University Hospital, Malmö
Correspondence to: Crister Olsson, PhD, Food Technology Engineering and Nutrition, Lund University, 22100 Lund, Sweden. crister.olsson@med.lu.se
Telephone: +46-46-2229816 Fax: +46-46-2224622
Received: August 8, 2011
Revised: February 6, 2012
Accepted: February 16, 2012
Published online: April 14, 2012
Abstract

AIM: To characterize the colon microbiota in two women histologically diagnosed with collagenous colitis using a culture-independent method.

METHODS: Biopsies were taken from the ascending colon and the total DNA was extracted. Universal bacterial primers were used to amplify the bacterial 16S rRNA genes. The amplicons were then cloned into competent Escherichia coli cells. The clones were sequenced and identified by comparison to known sequences.

RESULTS: The clones could be divided into 44 different phylotypes. The microbiota was dominated by Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes. Seven phylotypes were found in both patients and constituted 47.5% of the total number of clones. Of these, the most dominating were clones similar to Bacteroides cellulosilyticus, Bacteroides caccae, Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, Bacteroides uniformis and Bacteroides dorei within Bacteroidetes. Sequences similar to Faecalibacterium prausnitzii and Clostridium citroniae were also found in both patients.

CONCLUSION: A predominance of potentially pathogenic Bacteroides spp., and the presence of clones showing similarity to Clostridium clostridioforme were found but the overall colon microbiota showed similarities to a healthy one. Etiologies for collagenous colitis other than an adverse bacterial flora must also be considered.

Keywords: Microscopic colitis, Collagenous colitis, Lymphocytic colitis, Colonic microbiota, 16S rRNA sequencing