SEARCH FOR MYCOBACTERIA IN INTERSTITIAL CYSTITIS USING MYCOBACTERIA-SPECIFIC DNA PROBES WITH SIGNAL AMPLIFICATION BY POLYMERASE CHAIN-REACTION

The aetiology of interstitial cystitis is not known. Various infective agents have been postulated and although recognised as perpetrators o f chronic inflammatory conditions, mycobacteria have never been satisf actorily excluded from interstitial cystitis. If present in interstiti al cystitis tissue, mycobacteria exist either in very small numbers or in forms which contemporary staining techniques fail to recognise. We used a polymerase chain reaction with mycobacteria-specific DNA probe s and found no evidence of mycobacterial involvement in 8 cases of pro ven interstitial cystitis.