Formation of hyodeoxycholic acid from muricholic acid and hyocholic acid by an unidentified gram-positive rod termed HDCA-1 isolated from rat intestinal microflora.

From the rat intestinal microflora we isolated a gram-positive rod, termed HDCA-1, that is a member of a not previously described genomic species and that is able to transform the 3alpha,6beta, 7beta-trihydroxy bile acid beta-muricholic acid into hyodeoxycholic acid (3alpha,6alpha-dihydroxy acid) by dehydroxylation of the 7beta-hydroxy group and epimerization of the 6beta-hydroxy group into a 6alpha-hydroxy group. Other bile acids that were also transformed into hyodeoxycholic acid were hyocholic acid (3alpha, 6alpha,7alpha-trihydroxy acid), alpha-muricholic acid (3alpha,6beta, 7alpha-trihydroxy acid), and omega-muricholic acid (3alpha,6alpha, 7beta-trihydroxy acid). The strain HDCA-1 could not be grown unless a nonconjugated 7-hydroxylated bile acid and an unidentified growth factor produced by a Ruminococcus productus strain that was also isolated from the intestinal microflora were added to the culture medium.

Stabilisation and partial purification of Triton X-100 solubilised trihydroxycoprostanoyl-CoA synthetase from rat liver.

The stability of rat hepatic trihydroxycoprostanoyl-CoA syntethase was studied in its native membrane environment and after solubilisation by Triton X-100, and compared to that of choloyl-CoA synthetase. The lability of both delipidated enzymes could be suppressed by high concentrations of polyols such as sucrose and glucose. Addition of phospholipids to the assay mixtures was necessary to restore the activity of the stabilized enzymes.

Tauroconjugation of cholic acid stimulates 7 alpha-dehydroxylation by fecal bacteria.

We examined the effect of the type of cholic acid conjugation (taurine-conjugated, glycine-conjugated, or unconjugated cholic acid) on cholic acid 7 alpha-dehydroxylation by intestinal flora. Cholic acid 7 alpha-dehydroxylation in fecal cultures, in cultures of a defined limited flora consisting of a mixture of seven bacterial species isolated from the intestinal tract, and in a binary culture of a 7 alpha-dehydroxylating Clostridium species plus a cholic acid-deconjugating Bacteroides species was studied. We found that tauroconjugation of cholic acid significantly (P < 0.

Full- vs. partial-mouth disinfection in the treatment of periodontal infections: short-term clinical and microbiological observations.

In a standard periodontal treatment strategy with consecutive root planings (per quadrant at a one- to two-week interval), re-infection of a disinfected area might occur before completion of the treatment. This study examines, both clinically and microbiologically, whether a full-mouth disinfection within 24 hours significantly improves the outcome of periodontal treatment. Ten patients with advanced chronic periodontitis were randomly allocated to a test and a control group.

Analysis of the open reading frames of the main capsid proteins of actinophage VWB.

The nucleotide sequence of a 6 kb fragment encoding the main late proteins (p14, p38 and p24) of actinophage VWB was obtained. Sequence comparison of the encoded proteins with those filed in databases indicated that the phage VWB main late proteins were all novel. A search for special motifs revealed that p14 (13.