Luminal fermentation and colonocyte metabolism in a rat model of enteral nutrition.

Large intestinal fermentation and nutrient metabolism in colonocytes were investigated in a rat model of enteral feeding. Male Wistar rats (240-280 g) were submitted to 7 or 14 days of treatment: intragastric feeding (elemental formula) versus oral feeding (isocaloric and isonitrogenous diet, containing 5% purified cellulose) in the control group. Fermentation products and bacterial populations were analyzed in cecal contents.

Diet, length of gestation, and fecal short chain fatty acids in healthy premature neonates.

Background: Excretion of fecal short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) may indicate changes in colonic or colonocyte metabolism. The aim of this study was to detect the influence of gestational age and feeding practices on SCFA concentrations and profiles in healthy preterm infants.

Methods: A total of 198 fecal samples (28 infants) were collected from 8 to 21 days of age from 3 groups of preterm infants born at 33 to 37 weeks of gestation and fed either breast milk (group I) or Nutramigen, a lactose-free formula (group II), and extremely preterm infants born before 33 weeks of gestation and fed breast milk (group III).

Differential influence of butyrate concentration on proximal and distal colonic mucosa in rats born germ-free and associated with a strain of Clostridium paraputrificum.

In vivo influence of butyrate in colonic mucosa was studied using a model of gnotobiotic rats monoassociated with a Clostridium paraputrificum. Rats were fed a diet containing increasing amounts of non-digestible carbohydrates, the fermentation of which led to modulated amounts of butyrate in the large intestine. In the proximal colon, the increase in the butyrate concentration alters crypt depth and the number of mucus-containing cells; the increase in butyrate was highly correlated with the number of neutral-mucin-containing cells.

Variations in digestive physiology of rats after short duration flights aboard the US space shuttle.

The purpose of this work was to assess the influence of microgravity on several endogenous and microbial parameters of digestive physiology. On the occasion of two Spacelab Life Sciences missions, SLS-1 (a 9-day space flight) and SLS-2 (a 14-day space flight), Sprague-Dawley rats flown aboard the US space shuttle were compared to age-matched ground-based controls. In both flights, exposure to microgravity modified cecal fermentation: concentration and profile of short-chain fatty acids were altered, whereas urea and ammonia remained unchanged.

Oligofructose contributes to the protective role of bifidobacteria in experimental necrotising enterocolitis in quails.

Bifidobacteria are dominant in the gut of full-term infants, although colonisation by them is often delayed in preterm neonates. Bifidobacteria are recognised to have beneficial effects on digestive disorders and they might prevent neonatal necrotising enterocolitis (NEC), a gastrointestinal disease that predominantly affects premature infants. They have been shown to protect gnotobiotic quails against NEC-like lesions when the birds were inoculated with faecal flora from preterm infants, decreasing the clostridial population.

Clostridial pathogenicity in experimental necrotising enterocolitis in gnotobiotic quails and protective role of bifidobacteria.

The pathogenesis of neonatal necrotising enterocolitis (NEC) remains unclear. Gnotobiotic quails fed a lactose diet have been used to investigate the role of clostridial strains originating from faecal specimens of neonates through the intestinal lesions, the changes in microflora balance and the production of bacterial metabolites, i.e.

Fecal short-chain fatty acids predict digestive disorders in premature infants.

Background: Excretion of fecal short-chain volatile fatty acids (SCFAs) may indicate changes in colonic or colonocyte metabolism. The aim of this study was to detect the existence of an average fecal SCFA profile and to define which changes were associated with clinical events that occurred during the survey period.

Methods: SCFA profiles of 185 stool samples collected from 46 fed preterm neonates (mean birth weight, 1920 g; mean gestational age, 32.

Milk fermented with yogurt cultures and Lactobacillus casei compared with yogurt and gelled milk: influence on intestinal microflora in healthy infants.

Ingestion of fermented dairy products induces changes in the equilibrium and metabolism of the intestinal microflora and may thus exert a healthful influence on the host. We compared the effects of consumption of a traditional yogurt, a milk fermented with yogurt cultures and Lactobacillus casei (YC), and a nonfermented gelled milk on the fecal microflora of healthy infants. Thirty-nine infants aged 10-18 mo were randomly assigned to one of three groups in which they received 125 g/d of one of the three products for 1 mo.

Pattern of metabolism and composition of the fecal microflora in infants 10 to 18 months old from day care centers.

Background: From 5 months of age, infants are progressively introduced to a variety of foods which influence the equilibrium of the intestinal microflora.

Methods: Thirty-five children age 10-18 months from 8 day care centers in France were studied. Fecal specimens were examined for their biochemical and microbiological criteria.

Effects of chair-restraint on gastrointestinal transit time and colonic fermentation in male rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta).

The incidence of an 18 day chair-restraint on the digestive physiology of male rhesus monkey was investigated for space research purposes, comparing four trained restraint subjects with two vivarium controls. Chair-restraint induced a 2.5-fold acceleration of the gastrointestinal transit time, which persisted throughout the 7 day postrestraint period, and an increase of the fecal dry matter content, which mean value rose from 40.

Effect of two levels of transgalactosylated oligosaccharide intake in rats associated with human faecal microflora on bacterial glycolytic activity, end-products of fermentation and bacterial steroid transformation.

The effects of two levels of transgalactosylated oligosaccharide (TOS) intake on bacterial glycolytic activity, end products of fermentation and bacterial steroid transformation were studied in rats associated with a human faecal flora. Rats were fed a human-type diet containing 0, 5 or 10% TOS. Caecal pH decrease correlated with the amount of TOS in the diet.

Influence of caecal microflora and of two dietary protein levels on the adaptation of the exocrine pancreas: comparative study in germ-free and conventional rats.

Dietary proteins are degraded by both endogenous enzymes and the caecal microflora. In conventional rats the enzyme content of the pancreas depends on the amount of dietary protein. The influence of the caecal microflora on this process is unknown.

Degradation and fermentation of alpha-gluco-oligosaccharides by bacterial strains from human colon: in vitro and in vivo studies in gnotobiotic rats.

The ability of several human gut bacteria to break down alpha-1,2 and alpha-1,6 glycosidic linkages in alpha-gluco-oligosaccharides (GOS) was investigated in vitro in substrate utilization tests. Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, Bifidobacterium breve and Clostridium butyricum, which are usually found in the infant gut and have been associated with both beneficial and deleterious effects on health, were studied. Alpha-Gluco-oligosaccharide degradation was compared in vitro and in vivo in gnotobiotic rats associated with these organisms, inoculated alone or in combination.

Effects of galacto-oligosaccharide and bacterial status on mucin distribution in mucosa and on large intestine fermentation in rats.

The purpose of the present paper was to study the effects of a dietary undigestible carbohydrate and intestinal microflora on mucin distribution (neutral, acid, sulphonated), glycolytic activities: beta-D-galactosidase (EC 3.2.1.