Microorganisms in the Cecal Contents of Rats Fed Various Carbohydrates and Fats

Abstract

This work was done in an attempt to develop a satisfactory explanation for the different growth-promoting effects of diets containing: (a) different carbohydrates and fats; (b) different levels of fat in a sucrose diet. The ceca of rats maintained on these diets were removed aseptically and subjected to bacteriological analysis. For animals on a lactose diet the total aerobic and anaerobic plate counts, as well as the numbers of coliforms and lactics, were much higher than the corresponding counts or numbers of the same organisms in the cecal contents of animals on diets containing either dextrin or sucrose. Compared to sucrose, dextrin was found to favor higher numbers of coliforms in the cecum. The ratio of the aerobic to the anaerobic plate count was highest on a dextrin diet and lowest on a lactose diet. The aerobic and the anaerobic plate counts, as well as the numbers of coliforms, were found to be decreased in the ceca of most of the rats fed sucrose diets containing a high level of corn oil. Supplementation of a high corn oil sucrose diet with "reticulogen" tends to counteract the inhibitory action of corn oil upon the growth of certain cecal microorganisms.