Whipple's disease and Tropheryma whipplei

Introduction
Whipple’s disease is an infectious disease caused by a
bacterium, Tropheryma whipplei. The disease is rare (annual
incidence : one per million habitant) but its prevalence is not
really known.
The disease has been described for the first time in 1907
by an American physician, George Whipple.
The clinical manifestations are various and are not really
specific leading to a delay for the diagnosis.
The spontaneous evolution of the disease is long,
marked by remission and relapse episodes, that could be
evolved until the death in absence of specific treatment.
T. whipplei has been considered for a long time as
uncultivable. The first isolation and establishment of a strain of
T. whipplei has been performed in our laboratory in 1999 from a
cardiac valve of a patient with an endocarditis due to T.
whipplei.
This step has been determinant for new perspectives of
diagnosis and treatment of the disease.
References:
-Whipple’s disease. Marth T, and D Raoult. Lancet 2003: 18, 239-246.
-Whipple’s disease and “Tropheryma whippelii”. Dutly F, and M Altwegg.
Clin Microbiol Rev 2001: 14, 561-583.