Human intestinal spirochetosis is significantly associated with sessile serrated adenomas/polyps

Abstract

It remains unclear whether or not human intestinal spirochetosis (HIS) has any associated symptoms or lesions. In this study, we assessed the prevalence of HIS in sessile serrated adenomas/polyps (SSA/Ps) and their possible association. Following identification of early cecal cancer with SSA/P accompanied by a colonization of HIS, we went on to conduct a retrospective case-control study using endoscopically resected SSA/P specimens to examine the frequency of HIS infection in SSA/Ps. Nineteen SSA/P cases and 172 controls were obtained. The rate of HIS infection was significantly higher at 52.6% (10/19) in the SSA/P cases compared to the controls at 8.1% (14/172). Our SSA/P series were associated with a remarkably higher rate of HIS than controls or than previously reported. This is the first report to provide evidence for potential association between HIS and SSA/Ps.

Keywords: Human intestinal spirochetosis; Serrated lesion; Sessile serrated adenoma/polyps.