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Duodenal Bacterial Flora and Bile Salt Patterns in Patients with Gastrointestinal Disease
Author(s) -
Campbell C. B.,
Cowen A. E.,
Harper J.
Publication year - 1973
Publication title -
australian and new zealand journal of medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.596
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1445-5994
pISSN - 0004-8291
DOI - 10.1111/j.1445-5994.1973.tb03104.x
Subject(s) - gastroenterology , medicine , taurine , glycine , bile acid , small intestine , microbiology and biotechnology , biology , biochemistry , amino acid
Summary: Small intestinal intubation was performed in a total of 61 patients with gastrointestinal symptoms and six healthy volunteer subjects. Duodenal aspirates were collected in the fasting state and cultured aerobically and an‐aerobically. The ratios of glycine to taurine conjugated bile salts, tri‐hydroxy to di‐hydroxy bile salts, and the percentage deconjugation of the bile salt were measured. No significant organisms were cultured from the duodenal aspirates of the six normal control subjects. In these controls less than 1% unconjugated bile salt was present in duodenal secretions. The glycine/taurine ratio averaged 2.7 and tri‐hydroxy/di‐hydroxy ratio 0.9. In contrast, 30 of 48 patients with gastrointestinal symptoms showed coliform colony counts of 105 organisms or greater per ml duodenal aspirate. None of the patients fulfilled the accepted criteria for the blind or stagnant loop syndrome and antibiotic therapy failed to reduce the steatorrhoea. Small amounts of deconjugated bile salts were found in the duodenal aspirates from many patients with a correlation between the percent unconjugated bile salts and the number of organisms cultured. It is concluded that significant coliform colonisation of the upper small intestine and some deconjugation of bile salts may be found in many patients with nonspecific gastrointestinal disease.