The Influence of Milk and Carbohydrate Feeding on the Character of the Intestinal Flora Iv. Diet Versus Bacterial Implantation

Abstract

This paper marks the culmination of several years of investigation carried on in this laboratory on the relation of diet to the intestinal flora. The results given in earlier publications (Hull and Rettger (1914); Rettger and Horton (1914); Rettger, (1915) may be summarized briefly as follows.1. A change in the diet of white rats from the ordinary mixed food to a special diet containing starch, lard, protein-free milk and a pure protein quickly resulted in a marked simplification of the intestinal flora, the Gram-positive organisms increasing, often to the extent of constituting the entire flora. B. coli and other intestinal organisms were practically eliminated, while bacilli of the type of B. acidophilus (Moro) predominated or were present in such numbers as to exclude all other forms.2. B. acidophilus was found to be a common inhabitant of the intestinal tract of white rats under certain conditions of diet. It was increased in numbers by grain feed (particularly oats, wheat and corn), milk, and lactose. Its preponderance over other organisms was brought about within a period of two to four days when lactose was fed. It was often supplanted by B. bifidus which on continued lactose feeding persisted. In milk feeding the acidophilus phase was more permanent, and B. bifidus seldom gained the ascendency. Carbohydrates, other than milk sugar, failed to bring about this transformation. 47 on August 5, 2020 by guest http://jb.asm.org/ Downloaded from 48 on August 5, 2020 by guest

A treatise on the transformation of the intestinal flora, with special reference to the implantation of Bacillus acidophilus,

“…Torrey demonstrated that the administration of a high carbohydrate (lactose) diet tended to reduce the putrefying types of bacteria, and to favor the growth of organisms of the B. acidophilus type. Our results are in accord also with those of earlier investigations reported by Hull and Rettger (1917) and the more recent announcements of Torrey (1919), but they are diametrically opposed to those obtained by Sisson (1917) in similar feeding experiments with puppies. Sisson reported that a milk diet containing 10 to 15 per cent of lactose did not cause an intestinal flora essentially difi'erent from that following a diet of whole pasteurized milk.…”

“…Within five days after the discontinuance of the B. bulgaricus milk B. acidophilus gradually disappeared and the usual complex flora again asserted itself. The results obtained in this series of experiments with human subjects are in full accord with those of Hull and Rettger (1917) and of our own on white rats (pages 11-64), and lead us to the conclusion that B. bulgaricus is unable to adjust itself to the conditions prevailing in the intestine of both man and the albino rat, and that so-called implantation of this organism in the intestine is impos- Rahe (1914) and studied at some length by us was utilized. None of the transplants from the plates failed to utilize maltose with acid production, and in every other respect there was lack of evidence of the presence of B. hulgaricus.…”

Modulating effect of dietary carbohydrate supplementation on Candida albicans colonization and invasion in a neutropenic mouse model

“…Analysis of variance, performed on log1o-transformed data, was used to assess C albicans colonization and invasion as well as the cecum percentage of total body weight. Pretreatment measurements of C. albicans colonization were used as a covariate in the analysis of variance because of the wide variability of this end point, as noted in previous studies (17) and demonstrated in our own analysis (Fig. 3).…”

“…In fact, we have seen the disappearance of nonlactose fermentors from the stools of mice receiving xylitol in previous experiments (39a). There is also evidence that important transformations of the GI flora can be induced by the addition of other slowly absorbed carbohydrates, such as lactose, to the diets of different species (17) or even by administering a diet restricted to milk (8).…”

Cecal Flora of White Rats on Purified Diet and Its Modification by Succinylsulfathiazole

“…Successful transformation of the intestinal flora to an aciduric type by the feeding of Lactobaciltus acidophilus was demonstrated by Rettger and . Extensive studies (Rettger and Horton, 1914;Hull and Rettger, 1917;Herter and Kendall, 1909;Torrey, 1919;Winblad, 1941;Porter and Rettger, 1940;Mitchell and Isbell, 1942) have shown that the intestinal flora is affected by the kind of food ingested; that a predominance of proteolytic (or gram-negative) bacteria may be induced when the diet consists largely of meat or other protein food; and that saccharolytic (or gram-positive) organisms become dominant when the diet is high in carbohydrates. It has been claimed that lactose and dextrin are more effective in producing this modification than are other carbohydrates.…”