Studies on the concentration and bacterial effect of aureomycin in different portions of the intestinal tract.

Numerous investigations have been carried out dealing with the absorption of aureomycin into the blood stream, body fluids, and tissues (1, 2). However, no determination of the concentration of this antibiotic within the lumen of the intestine has been reported. Likewise, there have been many studies concerning the effect of oral aureomycin on the intestinal bacterial flora, but these have relied upon the examination of stool specimens (3). It was believed that a determination of the concentration of aureomycin and its bacterial effect in various portions of the intestine would be of value in establishing more accurately the role of this antibiotic in intestinal disease. For these reasons, it was decided to investigate patients having a cecostomy, a transverse colostomy or a sigmoid colostomy. In this manner, it was possible to correlate oral dosage and intestinal aureomycin levels as well as alterations in the bacterial flora in different portions of the intestinal tract. Similar studies were carried out using stool specimens from a group of hospital patients having no apparent intestinal disease. It was recognized that a comprehensive investigation of intestinal bacteria involving aerobic and anaerobic studies would be an extensive project. A review of the bacteriologic records of the John Gaston Hospital for the five year period from January 1, 1945 to January 1, 1950 disclosed that eight pathogenic organisms were most frequently isolated in cases of peritonitis resulting from perforation of the gastrointestinal tract: Escherichia coli, Streptococcus anaerobius, Bacteroides organisms, Streptococcus Pyogenes, Streptococcus viridans, Streptococcus faecalis, Clostridium perfringens, and Aerobacter aerogenes. It was decided to restrict the bacteriologic studies to these eight organisms. METHODS