The bacterial flora of marine animals collected at depths of 570 to 2,446 m was examined for population size and generic composition, and the barotolerant characteristics of selected bacterial isolates were determined. Total numbers of culturable, aerobic, heterotrophic bacteria were found to be low in animals collected at the greatest ocean depths sampled in this study. Vibrio spp. were predom...

This review focuses on the use and potential of Lactobacillus to prevent infections of the urogenital and intestinal tracts. The presence and dominance of Lactobacillus in the vagina is associated with a reduced risk of bacterial vaginosis and urinary tract infections. The mechanisms appear to involve anti-adhesion factors, by-products such as hydrogen peroxide and bacteriocins lethal to pathog...

To understand the process by which antibiotic resistance genes are acquired by human pathogens, we functionally characterized the resistance reservoir in the microbial flora of healthy individuals. Most of the resistance genes we identified using culture-independent sampling have not been previously identified and are evolutionarily distant from known resistance genes. By contrast, nearly half ...

The intestine is a highly vascularized organ, and the splanchnic microcirculation is now appreciated to play a key role in immune and inflammatory responses in the gut. Emerging evidence demonstrates that the enteric flora not only exerts an important effect on innate immunity and the mucosal immune system, but will also affect inflammatory and angiogenic mechanisms involving the gut microcircu...

The intestine and the intestinal immune system have evolved through a symbiotic homeostasis under which a highly diverse microbial flora is maintained in the gastrointestinal tract while pathogenic bacteria are recognized and eliminated. Disruption of the balance between the immune system and the gut microbiota results in the development of multiple pathologies in humans. Inflammatory bowel dis...

The relationship postulated between hepatic coma and hyperammonaemia implicates the gastrointestinal tract as a major source of the excess ammonia in the peripheral blood of some patients with cirrhosis (Butt and Summerskill, 1961; Chalmers, 1960; Sherlock, Summerskill, White, and Phear, 1954). Conventional therapy, comprising protein restriction, antibiotics, and enemas, is directed toward eli...

Gut flora is the community of microbial populations that live in intestine. Approximately 30% this population shared by all humans, but remaining 70% unique to each individual, hence gut microbiota serves as an identity card. play numerous functions body's defense against invasion, synthesis important vitamins, regulation immunological marker production, and others. Researchers observed several...