@ARTICLE{Vuyyuru2026-cw,
  title     = "Association of Mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis With Crohn's
               Disease: A Large Multicenter Study From a {Tuberculosis-Endemic}
               Region",
  author    = "Vuyyuru, Sudheer Kumar and Singh, Urvashi and Das, Prasenjit and
               Basant, Shiv and Singh, Vishwajeet and Sinha, Saroj Kant and
               Sharma, Kusum and Ramakrishnan, B S and Palaniyandi, Kannan and
               Pokharna, Rupesh and Malhotra, Bharti and Bhatia, Shobna and
               Dhali, Gopal Krishna and Sarkar, Rajib and Sharma, Charu and
               Dattagupta, Siddhartha and Singh, Manjula and Kochhar, Rakesh
               and Vishnubhatla, Sreenivas and Ahuja, Vineet",
  abstract  = "BackgroundThe causal relationship between Crohn's disease (CD)
               and Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP)
               remains controversial.MethodsThis multicenter observational
               study was conducted across seven tertiary care centers in India
               enrolled newly diagnosed, treatment-na{\"\i}ve Crohn's disease
               (CD) patients as cases, and treatment-na{\"\i}ve intestinal
               tuberculosis (ITB), ulcerative colitis (UC), and healthy
               individuals undergoing sigmoidoscopy for hemorrhoids as
               controls. Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP)
               detection was performed using serology for MAP antibodies, PCR,
               RT-qPCR, and solid/liquid cultures on blood and colonic
               biopsies. In situ PCR and immunohistochemistry (IHC) were
               additionally applied to paraffin-embedded tissue sections to
               evaluate MAP presence across groups.FindingsA total of 889
               participants were recruited (CD=148, ITB=288, UC=251 and non-IBD
               controls=202) were included. The seropositivity of MAP was
               significantly higher in patients with CD compared to controls
               (20.6\% [13/63] vs healthy controls: 16.2\% [12/74]; ITB: 7.8\%
               [9/116]; UC: 4.8\% [4/84]; pInterpretationFindings of our study
               suggest an increased association of MAP and CD. Future studies
               should explore possible causal role of MAP in CD and potential
               therapeutic options to target MAP.",
  journal   = "Clin. Infect. Dis.",
  publisher = "Oxford University Press (OUP)",
  volume    =  82,
  number    =  5,
  pages     = "841--847",
  month     =  may,
  year      =  2026,
  keywords  = "Mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis ; Crohn's disease;
               intestinal tuberculosis; ulcerative colitis",
  copyright = "https://academic.oup.com/pages/standard-publication-reuse-rights",
  language  = "en"
}