Induction of creatininase activity in chronic renal failure: timing of creatinine degradation and effect of antibiotics.

Creatinine degradation was prospectively studied in four healthy subjects and 35 patients with varying degrees of chronic renal failure by measuring creatininase activity in stool isolates. Patients were subdivided into those with serum creatinine above and below 6 mg/dL. Creatinine degradation in the former group of patients who had not taken antibiotics in the previous 3 months was significantly greater than the latter (64% v 26%; P < 0.

Multigenic control of resistance to Yersinia enterocolitica in inbred strains of mice.

By using recombinant inbred mice derived from strains genetically resistant or susceptible to Yersinia enterocolitica, we demonstrated a tentative linkage of resistance with the Es-1 locus on murine chromosome 8. No correlation with resistance and genes associated with immune regulation was evident. In addition, resistance appeared to be multigenic.

Yersinia enterocolitica infection in resistant and susceptible strains of mice.

We investigated natural resistance in mice to Yersinia enterocolitica, an enteric bacterial pathogen of humans, with a view to determine host genetic factors that are important in resistance. Most mouse strains studied (C3H/HeN, BALB/c, BALB.B, DBA/2, A, Swiss, and SWR) were highly susceptible to infection (50% lethal dose [LD50], 2 X 10(2) to 6 X 10(2) Y.

Effect of cyclacillin and ampicillin on the gut flora of mice.

The oral administration of cyclacillin, a semisynthetic aminoalicyclic penicillin, results in the elimination of the lactobacilli from the gastrointestinal tract of mice. Although cyclacillin has a broad spectrum of activity similar to that of ampicillin, it does not, like ampicillin, affect the other flora of the gastrointestinal tract. Cyclacillin, unlike ampicillin, is rapidly absorbed from the stomach and upper small intestine, so that only small amounts reach the large bowel.

Importance of aliphatic amines in uremia.

Five main aspects were addressed: 1)The demonstration that creatinine is an endogenous precursor of dimethylamine (DMA) in chronic renal failure. 2) The size of the body amine pool measured in transplant patients suggests sequestration in some intracellular compartment. This illustrates the possible error in directly relating serum concentrations to neurological toxicity.

Bacterial populations of the small intestine in uremia.

The small intestinal bacterial flora of 15 patients with chronic renal insufficiency was compared with that of subjects with blind loop synDROME. 9 patients were on regular hemodialysis with high protein intake and 6 (serum creatinine 7.5 to 12.

Amine metabolism and the small bowel in uraemia.

Intestinal intubation was carried out in 21 subjects: 9 with end-stage renal failure, 2 with early renal insufficiency, 7 untreated patients with blind-loop syndrome, and 3 normal volunteers. All 9 patients with uraemia had significantly raised duodenal dimethylamine (D.M.

Medical applications of dust-free rooms. 3. Use in an animal care laboratory.

Bacterial air sampling in an animal care laboratory showed that dense aerosols are generated during cage changing and cage cleaning. Reyniers and Andersen sampling showed that the airborne bacteria numbered 50 to 200 colony-forming units (CFU)/ft(3) of air. Of the viable particles collected by Andersen samplers, 78.

Lasting biological effects of early environmental influences. I. Conditioning of adult size by prenatal and postnatal nutrition.

Newborn specific-pathogen-free mice (SPF) were separated from their mothers shortly after birth and immediately reallocated at random to foster mothers, each of which received eight young. Under these conditions, the growth rate and adult size of the young were profoundly and lastingly conditioned by some unidentified influence exerted by the foster mother. In SPF mice nursed by their own mothers, the diet of the latter during gestation and lactation, or during lactation alone, conditioned the weight of the young at weaning time, and throughout their whole life span.

The gastrointestinal epithelium and its autochthonous bacterial flora.

Colonization of the gastrointestinal tract by bacteria of the normal flora was followed by bacteriological and special histological techniques in mice from several colonies. These histological techniques were designed to preserve the intimate associations that become established between particular strains of microorganisms and the epithelium of the mucosa of certain areas of the gut. The findings were as follows: 1.

The relationship of polymorphonuclear leukocytes to infertility in uteri containing foreign bodies.

A chronic infiltration of polymorphonuclear leukocytes was invariably found in the infertile regions of uteri containing foreign bodies in conventional rats, germfree rats, mice, and rabbits. Polymorphonuclear leukocytes were never found in the fertile regions of these uteri. A foreign body in the uterus of the rat, and probably also the mouse, was associated with a bacterial infection which spread the inflammatory response throughout the horn containing the foreign body, and in the mouse occasionally into the control horn as well.

The influence of endotoxin administration on the nutritional requirements of mice.

Albino mice lose weight within 24 hours following administration of bacterial endotoxin. The initial weight loss is proportional to the dose of endotoxin injected only when this dose is very small. The loss during the 1st day reaches a maximum with 10 to 30 microg of endotoxin; larger doses increase the duration of the overall effect.

ASSOCIATION OF GERMFREE MICE WITH BACTERIA ISOLATED FROM NORMAL MICE.

Germfree mice were given food contaminated with pure cultures of various bacterial species isolated from ordinary healthy mice. The cultures were given singly, or in association, or consecutively at weekly intervals. Whatever the technique of administration, the lactobacilli and anaerobic streptococci immediately established themselves throughout the gastrointestinal tract, and became closely associated with the walls of the organs.

INDIGENOUS, NORMAL, AND AUTOCHTHONOUS FLORA OF THE GASTROINTESTINAL TRACT.

The bacterial flora of the gastrointestinal tract differs qualitatively and quantitatively from one colony of mice to another. Certain components of this flora, however, are always present in large and approximately constant numbers in healthy adult mice, irrespective of the colony from which the animals are derived. Lactobacilli and anaerobic streptococci are extremely numerous in the stomach, the small intestine, and the large intestine.