Very little is known about how the host genome influences the composition of the gastrointestinal flora, largely due to the great number and diversity of bacteria present in the flora and the difficulties of using traditional methods of bacterial isolation and identification. We have approached the problem by studying bacterium-derived cellular fatty acids in the stool samples of six mouse stra...

Our aim was to evaluate the prevalence of bacterial vaginosis and decrease in lactobacillus colonization in women 40 years old or older in relation to menopausal status by evaluation of Gram-stained smears. A total of 1,486 smears from Italian Caucasian women aged 40 to 79 years were examined. Women were classified as follows: fertile (regular cycles) (n = 328), perimenopausal (irregular cycles...

Introduction. To investigate whether maternal oral flora might be involved in intrauterine infection and subsequent stillbirth or neonatal death and could therefore be detected in fetal and neonatal postmortem bacterial cultures. Methods. This retrospective study of postmortem examinations from 1/1/2000 to 12/31/2010 was searched for bacterial cultures positive for common oral flora from heart ...

INTRODUCTION Normal bacterial flora may be altered by a variety of factors. OBJECTIVE To study the aerobic bacterial conjunctival flora in patients with diabetes mellitus and to find its clinical significance by comparing the results to the conjunctival flora of non-diabetic subjects. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 75 diabetic patients were included as cases and 25 nondiabetics as control...

A study was made of the incidence of postoperative endocarditis and of septicaemia in early convalescence in 814 consecutive patients undergoing open-heart surgery. The results were related to the prophylactic antibiotic given to "cover" the operation. A subgroup of 150 patients was studied more intensively and the bacterial flora of the tracheal aspirates and catheter tips from these patients ...

Genetically-engineered animals are known to be useful in clarifying the functions of many genes and as animal models for human diseases. However, it has been widely reported that pathophysiology is not expressed in these animals when they become germfree or SPF animals, i.e., the pathophysiology is not the result of genes alone and a combination of gene function and intestinal flora as an envir...

The subgingival bacterial flora from 2 gingival sites was cultured and characterized monthly in twenty periodontitis-free women during pregnancy and again post-partum. Monthly plaque samples were also cultured in eleven age and disease matched non-pregnant women. Plaque was processed anaerobically on selective and nonselective media and the predominant colony types were characterized. A portion...

THE bacterial flora of the human conjunctiva both during life and after death has been the subject of several studies in the past. With the increasing incidence of keratoplasty and vitreous implants the study of the behaviour of the conjunctival flora after death in particular is becoming increasingly important. Some of the first recorded findings date from 1887, when Fick examined the bacteria...

A leading hypothesis for the role of bacteria in inflammatory bowel diseases is that an imbalance in normal gut flora is a prerequisite for inflammation. Testing this hypothesis requires comparisons between the microbiota compositions of ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease patients and those of healthy individuals. In this study, we obtained biopsy samples from patients with Crohn's disease ...

The female genital tract has a complex microbial flora which varies with site, age of the patient, and hormonal background. Likewise, the quality and quantity of cervical and vaginal secretions vary with many factors including age, phase of the menstrual cycle, use of oral contraceptive, pregnancy, and presence of an intrauterine contraceptive device. Vaginal discharge may arise from the vagina...