Culture ofT. whippleifrom the Stool of a Patient with Whipple's Disease

Abstract

Tropheryma whipplei (formerly T. whippelii) causes Whipple's disease, an infectious disorder involving the digestive tract.¹ The organism can be seen within macrophages in the duodenum, but T. whipplei was first isolated from specimens of human mitral valve.¹ Molecular analysis of stool samples with the use of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has shown DNA of T. whipplei in patients with Whipple's disease. The DNA of the organism has also been found in unaffected people² and in wastewater samples.^2,3