Flos Chrysanthemi, dried flower of Chrysanthemum morifolium Ramat, has drawn much attention recently owing to its potential beneficial health effects for human. Flos Chrysanthemi products are usually taken orally and metabolized by intestinal microflora. However, there has been no investigation of the comprehensive metabolic profile of the Flos Chrysanthemi extract by intestinal flora owing to ...

The impressive variety of reactions that can be performed by the gut flora on both exogenous and endogenously-produced compounds justifies its status as a major site of metabolism, comparable to the liver (Drasar et al. 1970; Scheline, 1973; Walker, 1973; Drasar & Hill, 1974). Furthermore, one might expect that the capacity of the flora to adapt to metabolic pressure by altering its component o...

The interaction between the intestinal flora and the immune system is complex, and as yet little understood. The Groningen Reduction of Image Data (GRID) image processing system is a relatively new tool in the investigation of this interaction. The image processing approach allows measurement of morphological and immunological characteristics of faecal bacteria, which have not been cultured, an...

There is epidemiological and experimental evidenced that the ingestion of excessive amounts of fat enhances intestinal cancer formation. This may be due to the interaction of luminal steroids with the bacterial flora in the colon, forming carcinogens or promoting agents. Increased fecal steroids induced by drugs, diet, or by mechanical means enhance intestinal tumor formation in rats given inje...

The first encounter of the neonate with Esch. coli consists of the normal intestinal colonization. Already at this stage the body is able to cope with these micro-organisms, accepting them as a part of the normal intestinal flora, but hindering them from invading the tissues. It is obvious, however, that from this early colonization onward the infant and then the child is carrying a reservoir o...

T here is considerable public, media, and scientific interest in ‘‘natural’’ products, including probiotics, in modulating intestinal inflammation and health. Intestinal microflora are intimately involved in the generation of immunocompetent cells and tuning the balance between T helper 1 (Th1) and Th2 immunity during the development of the gut associated immune system. It is now generally acce...

An overview is presented of recent studies on intestinal bacterial flora and the current state of probiotics (viable bacteria preparations) developed for use in domestic animals in Japan. They belong to two major categories, namely, veterinary drugs for treating gastro-intestinal disorders (such as diarrhoea), and feed probiotics to improve weight gain and feed efficiency, and also to maintain ...

tone, were reported from human and animal species. They were given the name mammalian lignans, because unlike plant lignans they carry phenolic hydroxy groups only in the meta position of the aromatic ring and they were assumed to play an important role in the prevention of hormone-dependent diseases, such as breast cancer and prostate cancer. The origins of enterodiol and enterolactone were la...

The influence of volatile fatty acids on the ecology of the bacterial flora of the mouse intestinal tract has been studied in three situations where large fluctuations in the composition of the microflora have been observed. Young mice were shown to ingest solid food particles when 11 days old; this correlated with the appearance of strictly anaerobic fusiform bacilli in the intestinal lumen an...