Skip to main content
PMC home page
The Journal of Hygiene logoLink to The Journal of Hygiene
. 1981 Aug;87(1):1–12. doi: 10.1017/s0022172400069187

The faecal flora of patients with Crohn's disease.

F Wensinck, Custers-van Lieshout, P A Poppelaars-Kustermans, A M Schröder
PMCID: PMC2134076  PMID: 7019315

Abstract

The faecal flora of patients with Crohn's disease was compared with that of healthy subjects. In patients with terminal ileitis, numbers of anaerobic gram-negative and coccoid rods (species of Eubacterium and peptostreptococcus) were higher than in the controls whereas anaerobic gram-positive rods and cocci and aerobes occurred in normal numbers. The composition of the flora was neither influenced by duration of the disease nor by ileocaecal resection. In healthy subjects and patients, a chemically defined diet induced only slight changes in the flora. Thus, the flora in terminal ileitis although stable was permanently abnormal. In the patients with Crohn's colitis, abnormally low numbers of anaerobes were found in patients with severe, bloody diarrhoea while aerobic counts were normal. The flora in patients with mild colitis was similar to that in terminal ileitis. It is suggested that the abnormal flora composition might be an expression of the genetic predisposition to Crohn's disease.

Full text

PDF
2

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Aries V. C., Crowther J. S., Drasar B. S., Hill M. J., Ellis F. R. The effect of a strict vegetarian diet on the faecal flora and faecal steroid concentration. J Pathol. 1971 Jan;103(1):54–56. doi: 10.1002/path.1711030108. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Attebery H. R., Sutter V. L., Finegold S. M. Effect of a partially chemically defined diet on normal human fecal flora. Am J Clin Nutr. 1972 Dec;25(12):1391–1398. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/25.12.1391. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Axelsson C. K., Justesen T. Studies of the duodenal and fecal flora in gastrointestinal disorders during treatment with an elemental diet. Gastroenterology. 1977 Mar;72(3):397–401. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Bounous G., Devroede G. J. Effects of an elemental diet on human fecal flora. Gastroenterology. 1974 Feb;66(2):210–214. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Crowther J. S., Drasar B. S., Goddard P., Hill M. J., Johnson K. The effect of a chemically defined diet on the faecal flora and faecal steroid concentration. Gut. 1973 Oct;14(10):790–793. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Drasar B. S., Jenkins D. J., Cummings J. H. The influence of a diet rich in wheat fibre on the human faecal flora. J Med Microbiol. 1976 Nov;9(4):423–431. doi: 10.1099/00222615-9-4-423. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Finegold S. M., Attebery H. R., Sutter V. L. Effect of diet on human fecal flora: comparison of Japanese and American diets. Am J Clin Nutr. 1974 Dec;27(12):1456–1469. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/27.12.1456. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Gorbach S. L., Banwell J. G., Chatterjee B. D., Jacobs B., Sack R. B. Acute undifferentiated human diarrhea in the tropics. I. Alterations in intestinal micrflora. J Clin Invest. 1971 Apr;50(4):881–889. doi: 10.1172/JCI106560. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Gorbach S. L., Banwell J. G., Jacobs B., Chatterjee B. D., Mitra R., Brigham K. L., Neogy K. N. Intestinal microflora in Asiatic cholera. I. "Rice-water" stool. J Infect Dis. 1970 Jan;121(1):32–37. doi: 10.1093/infdis/121.1.32. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Gorbach S. L., Nahas L., Plaut A. G., Weinstein L., Patterson J. F., Levitan R. Studies of intestinal microflora. V. Fecal microbial ecology in ulcerative colitis and regional enteritis: relationship to severity of disease and chemotherapy. Gastroenterology. 1968 Apr;54(4):575–587. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Gossling J., Slack J. M. Predominant gram-positive bacteria in human feces: numbers, variety, and persistence. Infect Immun. 1974 Apr;9(4):719–729. doi: 10.1128/iai.9.4.719-729.1974. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Hill M. J., Drasar B. S., Hawksworth G., Aries V., Crowther J. S., Williams R. E. Bacteria and aetiology of cancer of large bowel. Lancet. 1971 Jan 16;1(7690):95–100. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(71)90837-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Mitsuoka T., Ono K. Die Faekalflora bei Menschen. V. Mitteilung: Die Schwankungen in der Zusammensetzung der Faekalflora gesunder Erwachsener. Zentralbl Bakteriol Orig A. 1977 Jun;238(2):228–236. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Moore W. E., Cato E. P., Holdeman L. V. Anaerobic bacteria of the gastrointestinal flora and their occurrence in clinical infections. J Infect Dis. 1969 Jun;119(6):641–649. doi: 10.1093/infdis/119.6.641. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Moore W. E., Holdeman L. V. Human fecal flora: the normal flora of 20 Japanese-Hawaiians. Appl Microbiol. 1974 May;27(5):961–979. doi: 10.1128/am.27.5.961-979.1974. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Speck R. S., Calloway D. H., Hadley W. K. Human fecal flora under controlled diet intake. Am J Clin Nutr. 1970 Nov;23(11):1488–1494. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/23.11.1488. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Vince A., Dyer N. H., O'Grady F. W., Dawson A. M. Bacteriological studies in Crohn's disease. J Med Microbiol. 1972 May;5(2):219–229. doi: 10.1099/00222615-5-2-219. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Wensinck F. Proceedings: The faecal flora of patients with Crohn's disease. Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek. 1975;41(2):214–215. doi: 10.1007/BF02565055. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Wensinck F., Ruseler-van Embden J. G. The intestinal flora of colonization-resistant mice. J Hyg (Lond) 1971 Sep;69(3):413–421. doi: 10.1017/s0022172400021665. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Wensinck F., Van de Merwe J. P. Serum agglutinins to Eubacterium and Peptostreptococcus species in Crohn's and other diseases. J Hyg (Lond) 1981 Aug;87(1):13–24. doi: 10.1017/s0022172400069199. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. West B., Lendrum R., Hill M. J., Walker G. Effects of sulphasalazine (Salazopyrin) on faecal flora in patients with inflammatory bowel disease. Gut. 1974 Dec;15(12):960–965. doi: 10.1136/gut.15.12.960. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The Journal of Hygiene are provided here courtesy of Cambridge University Press

RESOURCES