The specificity of T cells in the inflamed joints of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has been the subject of much study. Bacterial antigens are suspect in the aetiology of rheumatic diseases. The responsiveness of the mononuclear cell fraction of peripheral blood and synovial fluid of patients with RA and of patients with rheumatic diseases other than RA to bacterial antigens such as ce...

The aetiology of Crohn's disease--a chronic intestinal disorder that involves an immune response against the commensal bacterial flora--remains fiercely debated. Two hypotheses exist: (i) those who think that the disease is caused by genetic defects that produce exaggerated innate responses to the flora, leading to excessive inflammation; and (ii) those who think that the genetic defects cause ...

background: small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (sibo) may have a role in the pathophysiology of irritable bowel syndrome (ibs). so, the aim of this study was to assess the association between sibo and ibs by using glucose breath test (gbt) in kerman city as the first study in iranian population. method: 107 patients with ibs and 107 healthy individualswere enrolled in our study. all the part...

Molecular Characterization of Intestinal Bacteria in Healthy Cats and a Comparison of the Fecal Bacterial Flora between Healthy Cats and Cats with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). (August 2008) Lauren Elizabeth Ritchie, B.S., Texas A&M University Co-Chairs of Advisory Committee: Dr. Jan S. Suchodolski Dr. Jörg M. Steiner Past studies characterizing the feline intestinal microflora have used tr...

Identification of mesenteric lymph node (MLN) bacteria showed that indigenous streptomycin-sensitive Escherichia coli could be recovered from MLN at least 48 h after this organism had been essentially eliminated from the cecal flora by antibiotics and replaced with exogenous streptomycin-sensitive E. coli JK. Additional experiments with antibiotic-treated rats also showed that indigenous strept...

The Mongolian gerbil is being increasingly used as a laboratory animal and as a pet. Both chinchillas and gerbils are used as animal models for otitis media and other otic research. Previously, only incomplete information was available regarding the indigenous bacterial flora of the lower intestinal tracts of these coprophagic animals. Using the strict anaerobic methodology of the Virginia Poly...