The intestine is an extremely complex living system that participates in the protection of the host through a strong defense against aggressions from the external environment. This defensive task is based on 3 constituents that are in permanent contact and dialog with each other: the microflora, mucosal barrier, and local immune system. We review herein current knowledge about these important f...

This study examines the effects of an enteropathogenic Escherichia coli on microvillar membrane proteins during organ culture of rabbit ileal explants. Explants maintained with enteropathogenic E coli showed brush border effacement affecting approximately 50% of enterocytes, and where enteropathogenic E coli were closely adherent to the enterocyte surface microvilli were apparently being shed a...

It has been generally thought that the polysaccharide moiety of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) maintains only serological specificity, while the lipid A portion determines various biological functions. However, we found that hemagglutination was a common function of the polysaccharide moiety of LPSs from important human enteropathogenic bacteria. Of the LPSs examined, Vibrio cholerae O139 LPS showed ...

Diarrhea caused by multidrug-resistant bacteria is an important public health problem among children in developing countries. The prevalence and antimicrobial susceptibility of diarrheagenic Escherichia coli in 346 children under 5 years of age in Ifakara, Tanzania, were studied. Thirty-eight percent of the cases of diarrhea were due to multiresistant enterotoxigenic E. coli, enteroaggregative ...

Plesiomonas shigelloides, a motile, oxidase-positive, Gram-negative rod that may possess shigella antigens, was isolated from the faeces of 36 children and two adults. In 13 children the organism was thought to be possibly the cause of enteritis and in eight children there was no evidence of intestinal disease. In nine children with gastroenteritis other enteropathogenic bacteria were found in ...

Members of the genus Aeromonas are important enteropathogens. Commercial identification systems are often unable to correctly identify Aeromonas strains and misidentification as Vibrio spp. is common. A digoxigenin-DNA probe based on a 237 bp of the glycerophospholipid-cholesterol acyltransferase gene has been tested in a colony hybridization assay. The probe hybridized with all Aeromonas speci...

Probiotics play an important role against infectious pathogens, such as Escherichia coli (E. coli), mainly through the production of antimicrobial compounds and their immunomodulatory effect. This protection can be detected both on live probiotic microorganisms in inactive forms (paraprobiotics). may affect different cells involved immunity, macrophages. Macrophages are activated contact with o...

A bacteriological study was done on the stool of 240 infants and young children. Ninety nine (41 2%) cases were found to be positive for causative agents of gastroenteritis. Stool cultures were positive for bacteria in 40% and for parasite in 1.3% patients. Thirty per cent of the cases had enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC), followed by Proteus morganii (47%), Shigella (2.0%), Salmonella (1-6%), P...

The intestine is an extremely complex living system that participates in the protection of the host through a strong defense against aggressions from the external environment. This defensive task is based on 3 constituents that are in permanent contact and dialog with each other: the microflora, mucosal barrier, and local immune system. We review herein current knowledge about these important f...