A bacteriological study of the intestinal mucosa and luminal fluid of adults with acute diarrhoea

Abstract

Bacteriological studies of jejunal mucosal biopsy specimens and contents were performed on 22 hospitalized adult patients with acute diarrhea and 24 control normal subjects. None of the washed homogenates of the mucosal specimens were sterile and only 1 fluid specimen obtained from a control subject was sterile. A definite enteric pathogen was found in only 5 of the 22 diarrhea patients. There was no qualitative difference in the bacterial profile of the jejunal mucosa and contents of the diarrhea patients from that of the control subjects, but there were significant quantitative differences for some bacterial categories. In the control and diarrhea subjects, there was no qualitative difference in the bacterial profile of the jejunal mucosa from that of the fluid, but there were significant quantitative differences for some bacterial categories. The significance of the findings is discussed.