Streptococcal infection in the pathogenesis of Behcet's disease and clinical effects of minocycline on the disease symptoms.
10.3349/ymj.1997.38.6.444
- Author:
Fumio KANEKO
1
;
Noritaka OYAMA
;
Akiko NISHIBU
Author Information
1. Department of Dermatology, Fukushima Medical College, Japan.
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Beh et's disease;
cutaneous tests;
streptococcal antigens;
proinflammatory cytokines;
minocycline
- MeSH:
Adult;
Antibiotics, Tetracycline/therapeutic use*;
Antigens, Bacterial/immunology;
Behcet's Syndrome/immunology;
Behcet's Syndrome/etiology*;
Behcet's Syndrome/drug therapy;
Cytokines/biosynthesis;
Female;
Human;
Male;
Minocycline/therapeutic use*;
Skin Tests;
Streptococcal Infections/drug therapy;
Streptococcal Infections/complications*
- From:Yonsei Medical Journal
1997;38(6):444-454
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
Although the precise pathoetiology of Behcet's disease (BD) remains obscure, patients with BD have a high incidence of chronic infectious foci, indicating an enhanced susceptibility to chronic tonsillitis, and dental caries. Sometimes, clinical symptoms appear after treatment of these foci in BD patients. It is believed that BD might be related to an allergic reaction to a bacterial infection in view of the many clinical symptoms, especially the presence of aphthous and genital ulcerations. An attempt to obtain cutaneous responses to bacterial antigens has been carried out using various vaccines developed from bacteria isolated from the ulcerative lesions and oral cavities of BD patients. BD patients often show intense hypersensitivity to various strains of streptococci, not only by their cutaneous reactions but also by in vitro testing. In this report, we describe our previous studies on the correlation between streptococcal antigens and the pathogenesis of BD and also discuss the recent reports of other authors. The intense hypersensitivity to streptococcal antigens acquired after streptococcal infection is thought to play an important role in the appearance of symptoms in BD patients since the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) was enhanced when stimulated with streptococcal antigen in a culture system. Minocycline, an antibiotic to which certain strains of streptococci are sensitive, reduced the frequency of clinical symptoms in BD patients as well as the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines by BD-PBMC stimulated with streptococcal antigen.
