The gastrointestinal tract of the human and other mammals is populated by a vast and diverse group of microbes in a composite manner (Frank and Pace, 2008; Ito, 2005). Bacteria are the major population of the alimentary tract and this native microflora is commonly designated the gut microflora (Ito, 2005). Microbial flora present in the microenvironment of the gastrointestinal tract performs se...

FMRFamide-related peptides (FaRPs) are a diverse and physiologically important class of neuropepeptides in the metazoa. In insects, FaRPs function as brain-gut neuropeptides and have been immunolocalized throughout the nervous system and alimentary tract where they have been shown to affect feeding behavior. The occurrence of FMRFamide-like immunoreactivity (FLI) was examined in the central ner...

Poliovirus (PV) is easily transferred to humans orally; however, no rodent model for oral infections has been developed because of the alimentary tract's low sensitivity to the virus. Here we showed that PV is inactivated by the low pH of the gastric contents in mice. The addition of 3% NaHCO3 to the viral inoculum increased the titer of virus reaching the small intestine through the stomach af...

Acute haemorrhage from the upper alimentary tract is a common cause of emergency admission to hospital, and in about 80% of these patients the condition causing the bleeding will be an acute haemorrhagic gastritis or a chronic gastric or duodenal ulcer. The diagnosis in this group ofpatients will be confirmed by early endoscopic examination in about 90% of patients. A small proportion of these ...