Analysis of the intestinal microflora using molecular methods

A large and complex bacterial community inhabits the distal intestinal tract of humans. This collection, known as the intestinal microflora, is dominated numerically by obligately anaerobic bacterial species. Many of these species have never been cultivated under laboratory conditions. Nucleic acid-...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:European journal of clinical nutrition 2002-12, Vol.56 Suppl 4 (S4), p.S44-S49
Main Author: Tannock, G W
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Antibiotics
Antigens
Antiinfectives and antibacterials
Atopy
Bacteria
Child
Children
Clinical nutrition
Composition
DNA, Bacterial - analysis
domain_sdv.mp.prb
Electrophoresis
Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel
Feces - microbiology
Female
Gel electrophoresis
Humans
Hypersensitivity, Immediate - etiology
Immune response
Immunosuppressive agents
Infants
Intestinal microflora
Intestine
Intestines
Intestines - microbiology
Life Sciences
Lymphocytes T
Male
Methods
Microbiology and Parasitology
Microbiota (Symbiotic organisms)
Nucleic acids
Perturbation
Phylogenetics
Polymerase Chain Reaction
Testing
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:A large and complex bacterial community inhabits the distal intestinal tract of humans. This collection, known as the intestinal microflora, is dominated numerically by obligately anaerobic bacterial species. Many of these species have never been cultivated under laboratory conditions. Nucleic acid-based techniques now permit, however, the analysis of even the non-cultivable members of the bacterial community. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) coupled with denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) provides a useful technique for comparisons of the composition of faecal or intestinal microfloras. PCR/DGGE has been shown to be useful in demonstrating changes that occur in the composition of the faecal microflora of infants administered antibacterial drugs. This research is important because treatment with oral antibiotics during the first 2 y of life has been identified as a predictor of subsequent atopic disease. The treatment of young children with broad spectrum oral antibiotics might produce perturbations in the composition of the intestinal microflora such that bacteria important in promoting Th1 mechanisms are depleted at a crucial age. This could result in Th2 dominance over Th1 immune responses to environmental antigens and an increased incidence of atopic disorders. PCR/DGGE provides a useful screening method to determine the impact of antibiotic treatment on the composition of the intestinal microflora of children and to identify the bacterial groups that are most affected.
ISSN:0954-3007
1476-5640
DOI:10.1038/sj.ejcn.1601661