Genomics has promised to change the practice of dentistry. Since the complete sequencing of the Human Genome, the development of massscale research tools in this field, such as DNA microarrays, has greatly improved [1]. Recent studies have employed microarray technology to monitor gene expression in periodontal patients, strain diversity of oral microflora implied in periodontitis, and the effe...

As more is learned about the importance of the intestinal microbiome to human health there is increasing interest in the potential benefits of probiotics. Probiotics are live micro-organisms which, when consumed in adequate amounts, confer a health effect on the host by altering its microflora. Probiotics have been administered both prophylactically and therapeutically for various conditions. T...

was present. The decrease in microvillus length (due to the presence of microflora), expressed as a percentage of the length in axenic rat, was 5 % in the duodenum, 9 % in the jejunum and 18 % in the ileum. This was not true of microvillus diameter where only the values found for the ileum of axenic rat were significantly lower, the others not differing among themselves. In conclusion, the pres...