PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Cuchacovich, Raquel
AU  - Japa, Shankar
AU  - Huang, Wen Qun
AU  - Calvo, Armando
AU  - Vega, Luis
AU  - Vargas, Ruben Burgos
AU  - Singh, Ranju
AU  - Flores, Diana
AU  - Castro, Ivette
AU  - Espinoza, Luis R
TI  - Detection of bacterial DNA in Latin American patients with reactive arthritis by polymerase chain reaction and sequencing analysis.
DP  - 2002 Jul 01
TA  - The Journal of Rheumatology
PG  - 1426--1429
VI  - 29
IP  - 7
4099  - http://www.jrheum.org/content/29/7/1426.short
4100  - http://www.jrheum.org/content/29/7/1426.full
SO  - J Rheumatol2002 Jul 01; 29
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Bacteria and/or their antigens are thought to play a role in the pathogenesis of reactive arthritis (ReA). Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using the 16S ribosomal RNA-PCR method was used to identify bacterial DNA in synovial fluid (SF) and tissue (ST) in a well defined group of patients with chronic ReA. In addition, species found were identified by means of sequence analysis. METHODS: We examined 15 ST and 5 SF samples of 15 patients with ReA, 5 ST samples of 5 patients with osteoarthritis (OA), and 8 SF from 8 patients with closed traumatic knee injuries using a nested PCR with universal 16S rRNA primers. In addition, a nested PCR was developed to detect DNA sequences of Salmonella sp. and Mycoplasma sp. Automated sequencing and comparative data analysis (GenBank) were also performed to identify the species. RESULTS: Bacterial DNA was identified in 8 cases, 5 ST and 3 SF; Chlamydia trachomatis (n = 2), Pseudomonas sp. (n = 3), and Bacillus cereus (n = 2) were the most common microorganisms identified. A variety of microorganisms including Clostridium sp., Lactobacillus sp., Pseudomonas migulae, P. fluorescens, and P. putida, and Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B were also identified. In half of the cases (4/8) 2 to 3 bacterial antigens were identified simultaneously. CONCLUSION: Bacterial DNA is present in the joints in patients with chronic ReA. A wide spectrum of bacteria including some not previously associated with ReA were identified. Further studies are needed to establish their exact role in the pathogenesis of ReA and related arthritides.