由于累及多系统和没有特异性的临床特征,Whipple 病的表现差别很大。所有合并胃肠道疾病和/或神经系统体征及炎症指标升高的难治性关节痛患者均需考虑此疾病。通过组织学检查和聚合酶链反应 (PCR)明确诊断。
临床评估
典型表现为伴有发热、腹泻和体重减轻的急性胃肠道疾病。也可能出现脂肪泻、水肿、疲乏和嗜睡等吸收不良等症状。可能进展为合并腹部淋巴结病以及腹痛的严重消耗综合征。一些患者表现为血清阴性的游走性大关节痛,或者个别患者表现为无变形的少关节炎或多关节炎。关节问题早于典型的胃肠道症状出现,平均要早 8 年。[47]Mahnel R, Kalt A, Ring S, et al. Immunosuppressive therapy in Whipple's disease patients is associated with the appearance of gastrointestinal manifestations. Am J Gastroenterol. 2005;100:1167-1173.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15842595?tool=bestpractice.com其他临床表现还包括贫血和皮肤变黑,大部分患者会出现贫血,近一半患者出现皮肤变黑。
10%~40% 的 Whipple 病患者出现神经系统表现,在出现晚期胃肠道表现患者中,有31% 的患者出现 中枢神经系统症状。[15]Dobbins WO. Whipple's disease. Springfield, IL: Thomas; 1987.[48]Louis ED, Lynch T, Kaufmann P, et al. Diagnostic guidelines in central nervous system Whipple's disease. Ann Neurol. 1996;40:561-568.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8871574?tool=bestpractice.com[49]Keinath RD, Merrell DE, Vlietstra R, et al. Antibiotic treatment and relapse in Whipple's disease: long-term follow-up of 88 patients. Gastroenterology. 1985;88:1867-1873.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2581843?tool=bestpractice.com[50]Durand DV, Lecomte C, Cathebras P, et al. Whipple disease: clinical review of 52 cases. The SNFMI Research Group on Whipple Disease. Societe Nationale Francaise de Medecine Interne. Medicine (Baltimore). 1997;76:170-184.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9193452?tool=bestpractice.com[51]Gerard A, Sarrot-Reynauld F, Liozon E, et al. Neurologic presentation of Whipple disease: report of 12 cases and review of the literature. Medicine (Baltimore). 2002;81:443-457.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12441901?tool=bestpractice.comCNS 疾病的最常见异常是认知障碍,如精神症状(如焦虑、抑郁、轻症躁狂、精神病和人格改变)、记忆减退、痴呆、肌阵挛体征、意识水平下降或意识错乱。
眼球运动紊乱是标志病征:尤其是进行性核上性眼肌麻痹伴随眼咀嚼肌节律征 (OMM) 和眼面骨胳肌节律征 (OFSM)。眼咀嚼肌节律征和眼面骨胳肌节律征指眼球呈钟摆样震动 (PVO)(有节奏、平稳的眼球内聚运动),且与咀嚼肌、面肌和咽肌的节律性运动(经常重复性收缩)同步。眼咀嚼肌节律征 (OMM) 定义为与咀嚼肌、面肌和咽肌节律性运动同步的钟摆样震动 (PVO)。眼面骨骼肌节律征 (OFSM) 定义为与非面部骨骼肌节律性运动同步的钟摆样震动 (PVO)。[48]Louis ED, Lynch T, Kaufmann P, et al. Diagnostic guidelines in central nervous system Whipple's disease. Ann Neurol. 1996;40:561-568.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8871574?tool=bestpractice.com[50]Durand DV, Lecomte C, Cathebras P, et al. Whipple disease: clinical review of 52 cases. The SNFMI Research Group on Whipple Disease. Societe Nationale Francaise de Medecine Interne. Medicine (Baltimore). 1997;76:170-184.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9193452?tool=bestpractice.com进一步出现的神经系统症状包括头痛、失眠、癫痫发作、局灶性脑部病变、共济失调、惊厥发作和脑脊膜炎症状。在某些情况下,可能会累及脊髓或周围神经。其他少见的神经系统症状包括眼球震动、上运动神经元功能障碍(反射亢进、脚跖部的伸张反应、手臂伸肌和腿部屈肌无力、高张力)、下丘脑受累(如闭经、多饮,多食、性欲降低)、偏瘫和颅神经受累。[51]Gerard A, Sarrot-Reynauld F, Liozon E, et al. Neurologic presentation of Whipple disease: report of 12 cases and review of the literature. Medicine (Baltimore). 2002;81:443-457.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12441901?tool=bestpractice.com[52]Messori A, Di Bella P, Polonara G, et al. An unusual spinal presentation of Whipple disease. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 2001;22:1004-1008.http://www.ajnr.org/cgi/content/full/22/5/1004http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11337349?tool=bestpractice.com
CNS 临床表现可能是该疾病的最初症状,[53]Mendel E, Khoo LT, Go JL, et al. Intracerebral Whipple's disease diagnosed by stereotactic biopsy: a case report and review of the literature. Neurosurgery. 1999;44:203-209.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9894983?tool=bestpractice.com[54]Feurle GE, Utz G, Kies D, et al. Neurological manifestations of Whipple's disease. Schweiz Med Wochenschr. 1976;106:1642-1646.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/65010?tool=bestpractice.com[55]Feurle GE, Volk B, Waldherr R. Cerebral Whipple's disease with negative jejunal histology. N Engl J Med. 1979;300:907-908.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/85260?tool=bestpractice.com但即使在没有神经系统症状,CSF 的 PCR 分析显示约 50% 的患者治疗前存在 CNS 感染。[56]von Herbay A, Otto HF, Stolte M, et al. Epidemiology of Whipple's disease in Germany: analysis of 110 patients diagnosed in 1965-95. Scand J Gastroenterol. 1997;32:52-57.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9018767?tool=bestpractice.com
检查
建议结合使用多种经典和可选的检查,以分层方案形式作出最后诊断。该方案应运用至所有无胃肠道症状,但十二指肠活检仍显示阳性组织学结果的患者。[18]Pruss H, Katchanov J, Zschenderlein R, et al. A patient with cerebral Whipple disease with gastric involvement but no gastrointestinal symptoms: a consequence of local protective immunity? J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2007;78:896-898.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17371903?tool=bestpractice.com
[Figure caption and citation for the preceding image starts]: Whipple 病的推荐诊断层级根据 Dr Verena Moos的资料 [Citation ends].
上消化道内镜检查
小肠的上消化道内镜检查是首选的诊断方法。[48]Louis ED, Lynch T, Kaufmann P, et al. Diagnostic guidelines in central nervous system Whipple's disease. Ann Neurol. 1996;40:561-568.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8871574?tool=bestpractice.com[50]Durand DV, Lecomte C, Cathebras P, et al. Whipple disease: clinical review of 52 cases. The SNFMI Research Group on Whipple Disease. Societe Nationale Francaise de Medecine Interne. Medicine (Baltimore). 1997;76:170-184.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9193452?tool=bestpractice.com十二指肠黏膜可能会肉眼可见绒毛增厚增宽,呈淡黄色异样和淋巴管扩张。十二指肠的组织学检查可确诊 Whipple 病。为避免采样误差,应从十二指肠的不同部位取至少 5 处活检样本。
组织学检查
Whipple 病患者黏膜固有层的组织学检查特点是,细胞质中出现含有抗淀粉酶的过碘酸-希夫 (PAS) 阳性颗粒的大量泡沫样巨噬细胞,且 Ziehl-Neelsen 染色结果呈阴性。
[Figure caption and citation for the preceding image starts]: 十二指肠黏膜中过碘酸-希夫 (PAS) 阳性巨噬细胞和淋巴管瘤根据 Christoph Loddenkemper 教授的资料 (Department of Pathology, Charité, CBF, Berlin) [Citation ends].然而,约 10% - 15% 的患者没有或仅有轻微的胃肠道症状。[57]Fenollar F, Raoult D. Whipple's disease. Clin Vaccine Immunol. 2001;8:1-8.http://cvi.asm.org/cgi/content/full/8/1/1http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11139188?tool=bestpractice.com[58]Fenollar F, Raoult D. Molecular techniques in Whipple's disease. Expert Rev Mol Diagn. 2001;1:299-309.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11901835?tool=bestpractice.com[59]Maiwald M, von Herbay A, Persing DH, et al. Tropheryma whippelii DNA is rare in the intestinal mucosa of patients without other evidence of Whipple disease. Ann Intern Med. 2001;134:115-119.http://www.annals.org/cgi/content/full/134/2/115http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11177314?tool=bestpractice.com[60]Misbah SA, Mapstone NP. Whipple's disease revisited. J Clin Pathol. 2000;53:750-755.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1731090/pdf/v053p00750.pdfhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11064667?tool=bestpractice.com这些患者中十二指肠活检的 PAS 染色可能呈阴性,应从其他受累器官获取活检标本。比如,PAS 阳性细胞通常见于:
淋巴结(尤其是淋巴结病患者)
CSF(脑脊液)
CNS 疾病患者的脑活检
关节炎或椎间盘炎患者的滑液、滑膜组织或软组织活检
培养阴性的心内膜炎患者的心脏瓣膜
骨髓[61]Krober SM, Kaiserling E, Horny HP, et al. Primary diagnosis of Whipple's disease in bone marrow. Hum Pathol. 2004;35:522-525.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15116337?tool=bestpractice.com[62]Walter R, Bachmann SP, Schaffner A, et al. Bone marrow involvement in Whipple's disease: rarely reported, but really rare? Br J Haematol. 2001;112:677-679.http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1365-2141.2001.02648.x/fullhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11260072?tool=bestpractice.com
皮肤、肝脏、肌肉或眼部(少见)活检。
免疫组织化学检查
采用Tropheryma whipplei多克隆抗体的特殊免疫组化检查可提高基于 PAS 染色的组织学检查能力。[63]Lepidi H, Fenollar F, Gerolami R, et al. Whipple's disease: immunospecific and quantitative immunohistochemical study of intestinal biopsy specimens. Hum Pathol. 2003;34:589-596.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12827613?tool=bestpractice.com[64]Baisden BL, Lepidi H, Raoult D, et al. Diagnosis of Whipple disease by immunohistochemical analysis: a sensitive and specific method for the detection of Tropheryma whipplei (the Whipple bacillus) in paraffin-embedded tissue. Am J Clin Pathol. 2002;118:742-748.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12428795?tool=bestpractice.com由于免疫组织化学检查更敏感,所以可特异性地识别无 PAS 染色阳性组织中的T whipplei。[64]Baisden BL, Lepidi H, Raoult D, et al. Diagnosis of Whipple disease by immunohistochemical analysis: a sensitive and specific method for the detection of Tropheryma whipplei (the Whipple bacillus) in paraffin-embedded tissue. Am J Clin Pathol. 2002;118:742-748.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12428795?tool=bestpractice.com
在 CNS 疾病患者中,PAS 染色可能无特异性,因为 PAS 阳性神经细胞内葡聚糖体、[65]Sinha S, Satishchandra P, Gayathri N, et al. Progressive myoclonic epilepsy: a clinical, electrophysiological and pathological study from South India. J Neurol Sci. 2007;252:16-23.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17166519?tool=bestpractice.com异常糖原[66]Giuffre B, Parini R, Rizzuti T, et al. Severe neonatal onset of glycogenosis type IV: clinical and laboratory findings leading to diagnosis in two siblings. J Inherit Metab Dis. 2004;27:609-619.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15669676?tool=bestpractice.com或人朊蛋白[67]Kulczycki J, Collinge J, Lojkowska W, et al. Report on the first Polish case of the Gerstmann-Straussler-Scheinker syndrome. Folia Neuropathol. 2001;39:27-31.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11678348?tool=bestpractice.com会被误判为T whipplei内含物。在这种情况下,应使用免疫组织化学检查。
PCR(聚合酶链反应)
已根据T whipplei 16S rRNA 基因的核苷酸序列开发出高敏感性和特异性的检测系统。[20]von Herbay A, Ditton HJ, Schuhmacher F, et al. Whipple's disease: staging and monitoring by cytology and polymerase chain reaction analysis of cerebrospinal fluid. Gastroenterology. 1997;113:434-441.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9247461?tool=bestpractice.com[68]Wilson KH, Blitchington R, Frothingham R, et al. Phylogeny of the Whipple's-disease-associated bacterium. Lancet. 1991;338:474-475.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1714530?tool=bestpractice.com[69]Relman DA, Schmidt TM, MacDermott RP, et al. Identification of the uncultured bacillus of Whipple's disease. N Engl J Med. 1992;327:293-301.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1377787?tool=bestpractice.com[70]La Scola B, Fenollar F, Fournier PE, et al. Description of Tropheryma whipplei gen. nov., sp. nov., the Whipple's disease bacillus. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol. 2001;51:1471-1479.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11491348?tool=bestpractice.com[71]Fenollar F, Raoult D. Whipple's disease. Curr Gastroenterol Rep. 2003;5:379-385.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12959718?tool=bestpractice.com[72]von Herbay A, Ditton HJ, Maiwald M. Diagnostic application of a polymerase chain reaction assay for the Whipple's disease bacterium to intestinal biopsies. Gastroenterology. 1996;110:1735-1743.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8964398?tool=bestpractice.comT whipplei完整基因组序列使得PCR 检测更具有基因特异性,运用重复序列敏感性增强了。[73]Fenollar F, Fournier PE, Raoult D, et al. Quantitative detection of Tropheryma whipplei DNA by real-time PCR. J Clin Microbiol. 2002;40:1119-1120.http://jcm.asm.org/cgi/content/full/40/3/1119http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11880458?tool=bestpractice.com然而,健康携带者 PCR检测结果阳性,但并不发病。因此,这一方法并不适合用于筛查,运用PCR进行T whipplei检测仅适用于临床疑似 Whipple 病患者。由于PCR是一个非常敏感的检测方法,污染很容易造成结果假阳性,因此,PCR 技术应仅限于认可的实验室使用,且扩增的 DNA 应进行测序认证。[20]von Herbay A, Ditton HJ, Schuhmacher F, et al. Whipple's disease: staging and monitoring by cytology and polymerase chain reaction analysis of cerebrospinal fluid. Gastroenterology. 1997;113:434-441.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9247461?tool=bestpractice.com[74]Ramzan NN, Loftus E Jr, Burgart LJ, et al. Diagnosis and monitoring of Whipple disease by polymerase chain reaction. Ann Intern Med. 1997;126:520-527.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9092317?tool=bestpractice.com
由于无症状的 CNS 集群现象很常见,应在初始抗生素治疗前对确诊的所有患者进行T whipplei的 CSF 取样和 PCR 试验。
初步诊断为 Whipple 病的患者,在确诊并排除所有可能的鉴别诊断前,不应开始推荐方案的抗生素治疗。
血液检查
急性 Whipple 病患者C 反应蛋白和红细胞沉降率通常会升高。血红蛋白水平降低, 91% 的典型 Whipple 病患者有低白蛋白血症。[12]Schneider T, Moos V, Loddenkemper C, et al. Whipple's disease: new aspects of pathogenesis and treatment. Lancet Infect Dis. 2008;8:179-190.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18291339?tool=bestpractice.com[15]Dobbins WO. Whipple's disease. Springfield, IL: Thomas; 1987.
诊断依赖于临床疑似和 PAS 染色、PCR 以及活检的免疫组织化学检查结果。如果十二指肠活检 PAS 染色呈阳性,单项或双项PCR 和免疫组织化学检查阳性,则可以确诊 Whipple 病。
如果十二指肠活检 PAS 染色阴性,但 PCR 和免疫组织化学检查都阳性,则可以确诊。如果 PCR 或免疫组织化学检查仅其中一项阳性,可初步诊断。PCR 和免疫组织化学检查两者均呈阴性,应考虑其他部位局部 Whipple 病的可能性。应从累及部位或器官采集活检标本。对这些新的样本同时进行 PAS 染色、PCR 和免疫组织化学检查。如果两项检测结果为阳性,明确诊断;如果仅 1 项检测结果为阳性,作为初步诊断。
新的检测方法
偶尔采用其他检测方法进行明确诊断,包括电镜检查、培养和血清学检查。但是,这些方法还未常规使用。如果仅为初步诊断,应采用一种额外的检测以确认诊断。PCR 阳性的 CSF进行T whipplei培养可适用于明确诊断。电镜检查可用于区别T whipplei和胞内鸟分枝杆菌,两者引起的肠道症状类似。