It is tempting to look at bacteria from our human egocentric point of view and label them as either 'good' or 'bad'. However, a microbial society has its own system of government - 'microcracy' - and its own rules of play. Lactic acid bacteria are often referred to as representatives of the good ones, and there is little doubt that those belonging to the normal intestinal flora are beneficial f...

Metabolic acidosis in a 3-year-old child with short bowel syndrome led to the discovery of massive D-lactic aciduria. After normalisation of the intestinal bacterial flora, D-lactate disappeared together with the acidosis. Dysbacteriosis with excessive production of D-lactate by intestinal bacteria (unidentified) and subsequent absorption explains this unusual cause of metabolic acidosis.

The aim of this review is to update knowledge about the vaginal ecosystem, non-cultivation methods for bacterial identification (gene amplification), the Lactobacillus species that comprise normal vaginal flora and influence of host genetics on bacterial interactions with local innate and acquired immune defenses. A Medline (Pubmed) search from 1997-2009 for relevant articles was performed and ...

This report describes a case of d-lactic acidosis observed by the authors and then reviews all case reports of d-lactic acidosis in the literature in order to define its clinical and biochemical features and pathogenetic mechanisms. The report also reviews the literature on metabolism of d-lactic acid in humans. The clinical presentation of d-lactic acidosis is characterized by episodes of ence...

We measured physiological functionalities, including antihypertensive angiotensin I-converting enzyme inhibitory activity and immun-stimulating β-glucan content for sixty kinds of Makgeolli that is commercially available from the market. As a result, we selected R-12 commercial raw Makgeolli, with a high content of immuno-stimulating β-glucan, and R-14 commercial raw Makgeolli, exhibiting high ...

Lactobacillus sakei is a lactic acid bacterium belonging to the natural flora of meat products. It constitutes the main flora of vacuum-packed meat and is largely used in western Europe as a starter for the manufacturing of fermented sausages. This species is able to grow both under aerobiosis and anaerobiosis. In many technological processes involving it, oxygen is scarce. The aim of this stud...