The optimal treatment for classic Whipple disease has not yet been determined. A recent study reported encouraging results for initial treatment with intravenous ceftriaxone or meropenem followed by long-term treatment with oral trimethoprim–sulfamethoxazole. However, discrepancies in the failure and/or relapse rates associated with trimethoprim–sulfamethoxazole show that this regimen may not be optimal.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Relevant articles
Open Access articles citing this article.
-
Progressive dementia associated with ataxia or obesity in patients with Tropheryma whipplei encephalitis
BMC Infectious Diseases Open Access 15 June 2011
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$209.00 per year
only $17.42 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Fenollar, F., Puéchal, X. & Raoult, D. Whipple's disease. N. Engl. J. Med. 356, 55–66 (2007).
Feurle, G. E., Junga, N. S. & Marth, T. Efficacy of ceftriaxone or meropenem as initial therapies in Whipple's disease. Gastroenterology 138, 478–486 (2010).
Bakkali, N., Fenollar, F., Rolain, J. M. & Raoult, D. Comment on: Therapy for Whipple's disease. J. Antimicrob. Chemother. 61, 968–969 (2008).
Fenollar, F. et al. Resistance to trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole and Tropheryma whipplei. Int. J. Antimicrob. Agents 34, 255–259 (2009).
Bakkali, N., Fenollar, F., Biswas, S., Rolain, J. M. & Raoult, D. Acquired resistance to trimethoprim–sulfamethoxazole during Whipple's disease and expression of the causative target gene. J. Infect. Dis. 198, 101–108 (2008).
Knaapen, H. K. & Barrera, P. Therapy for Whipple's disease. J. Antimicrob. Chemother. 60, 457–458 (2007).
Mahnel, R. et al. Immunosuppressive therapy in Whipple's disease patients is associated with the appearance of gastrointestinal manifestations. Am. J. Gastroenterol. 100, 1167–1173 (2005).
Lepidi, H. et al. Whipple's disease: immunospecific and quantitative immunohistochemical study of intestinal biopsy specimens. Hum. Pathol. 34, 589–596 (2003).
Keinath, R. D., Merrell, D. E., Vlietstra, R. & Dobbins, W. O. III. Antibiotic treatment and relapse in Whipple's disease. Long term follow-up of 88 patients. Gastroenterology 88, 1867–1873 (1985).
Sears, C. L. & Cosgrove, S. E. IV or not IV? Just one of the antibiotic questions in Whipple's disease. Gastroenterology 138, 422–426 (2010).
Lagier, J. C., Fenollar, F., Lepidi, H., Liozon, E. & Raoult, D. Successful treatment of immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome in Whipple's disease using thalidomide. J. Infect. 60, 79–82 (2010).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing financial interests.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Fenollar, F., Raoult, D. How should classic Whipple disease be managed?. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 7, 246–248 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrgastro.2010.46
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrgastro.2010.46
This article is cited by
-
Macrophage-related diseases of the gut: a pathologist's perspective
Virchows Archiv (2012)
-
Whipple’s disease
Internal and Emergency Medicine (2012)
-
Progressive dementia associated with ataxia or obesity in patients with Tropheryma whipplei encephalitis
BMC Infectious Diseases (2011)