Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-ndw9j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-14T04:28:34.771Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Bacillus bifidus: its Characters and Isolation from the Intestine of Infants1.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 May 2009

Robert Cruickshank
Affiliation:
From the Pathological Department of the University and Western Infirmary, Glasgow.
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

1. B. bifidus communis, first isolated and described by Tissier, is the predominant organism in the intestinal flora of healthy breast-fed infants in the early weeks of life. In films of the faeces at this period Gram-positive bacilli may constitute almost 99 per cent. of the organisms present.

2. B. bifidus requires fairly strict anaerobic conditions for its isolation in primary culture; but thereafter it grows readily in sub-cultures in the presence of oxygen.

3. B. bifidus is a member of the acid-tolerant group of Gram-positive, faecal organisms. Although closely resembling B. acidophilus, it is distinct from the latter morphologically and also in certain of its cultural characters. The results of agglutination reactions indicate that different strains of B. bifidus are not serologically uniform.

4. Although B. bifidus is a very pleomorphic organism, no evidence was obtained in the present work that it could be changed into an aerobic, spore-bearing bacillus.

5. The predominance of B. bifidus in the intestinal flora of breast-fed infants appears to be closely related to the high degree of acidity of the faeces of these infants. It is probable that the predominance of B. bifidus over other organisms is an important factor in preserving a healthy condition of the intestinal tract in the breast-fed infant.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1925

References

(1)Basten, (1914). Zeitschr. f. Hyg. LXXVII. 282.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(2)Blühdorn, (1910). Jahrb. f. Kinderheilk. LXXII. 693.Google Scholar
(3)Cahn, (1901). Centralbl. f. Bakt. u. Parasit. XXX. 721.Google Scholar
(4)Cannon, and McNease, (1922). Journ. Infect. Dis. XXXII. 175.Google Scholar
(5)Clark, (1914). Journ. Med. Research, XXXI. 431.Google Scholar
(6)Distaso, (1911). Centralbl. f. Bakt. u. Parasit. 1 Abt. LIX. (Orig.), 48.Google Scholar
(7)Distaso, and Jungano, (1910). Les Anaerobies, p. 148 (Paris).Google Scholar
(8)Escherich, (1886). München. med. Wochenschr. XXXIII. 43.Google Scholar
(9)Gompertz, and Vorhaus, (1922). Journ. Amer. Med. Assoc. LXXX. 90.Google Scholar
(10)Jacobson, (1908). Ann. Inst. Pasteur, XXI. 303.Google Scholar
(11)Kendall, (1909). Journ. Biol. Chem. v. 419.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(12)Kopeloff, (1923). Journ. Amer. Med. Assoc. LXXX. No. 9, 602.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(13)Kopeloff, and Beermann, (1924). Arch. Int. Med. XXXIII. 55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(14)Küthe, (1915). Centralbl. f. Bakt. u. Parasit. 1 Abt. LXXVI. (Orig.), 409.Google Scholar
(15)Lauter, (1921). Centralbl. f. Bakt. u. Parasit. LXXXVI. 579.Google Scholar
(16)Logan, (1914). Journ. Path. and Bact. XVIII. 527.Google Scholar
(17)M'Leod, and Gordon, (1922). Journ. Path. and Bact. XXV. 139.Google Scholar
(18)Marriott, and Davidson, (1923). Amer. Journ. Dis. Child. XXVI. 542.Google Scholar
(19)Mereshkowsky, (1905). Centralbl. f. Bakt. U. Parasit. 1 Abt. XXXIX. (Orig.), 380.Google Scholar
(20)Mereshkowsky, (1905). Centralbl. f. Bakt. U. Parasit. 584.Google Scholar
(21)Mereshkowsky, (1905). Centralbl. f. Bakt. U. Parasit. 696.Google Scholar
(22)Mereshkowsky, (1906). Centralbl. f. Bakt. U. Parasit. XL. (Orig.), 118.Google Scholar
(23)Moro, (1900). Wien. klin. Wochenschr. XIII. 114.Google Scholar
(24)Morris, Porter and Meyer, (1919). Journ. Infect. Dis. XXV. 349.Google Scholar
(25)Noguchi, (1911). Journ. Exper. Med. XII. 182.Google Scholar
(26)Orla-Jensen, (1919). Lactic Acid Bacilli, p. 105 (Copenhagen).Google Scholar
(27)Passini, (1903). Jahrb. f. Kinderheilk. LVII. 87.Google Scholar
(28)Rettger, and Cheplin, (1921). The Transformation of the Intestinal Flora with special Reference to the Implantation of B. acidophilus (Newhaven and London).Google Scholar
(29)Robinson, (1922). Journ. Biol. Chem. LII. 445.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(30)Rodella, (1901). Centralbl. f. Bakt. u. Parasit. 1 Abt. XXIX. (Orig.), 717.Google Scholar
(31)Rosenthal, (1889). Zeitschr. f. Hyg. V. 161.Google Scholar
(32)Scheurlen, (1887). Berlin. klin. Wochenschr. XXIV. 935.Google Scholar
(33)Schlossmann, (1906). Centralbl. f. Kinderheilk. XI. 237.Google Scholar
(34)Smith, (1923). Journ. Path. and Bact. XXIV. 122.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(35)Smith, (1924). Brit. Med. Journ. II. 948.Google Scholar
(36)Tissier, (1899). Compt. rend. Soc. Biol. LI. 943.Google Scholar
(37)Tissier, (1900). La Flore intestinale des Nourrissons (Paris).Google Scholar
(38)Tissier, (1905). Ann. Inst. Pasteur. XIX. 109.Google Scholar
(39)Tissier, (1905). Ann. Inst. Pasteur. 273.Google Scholar
(40)Tissier, (1908). Ann. Inst. Pasteur. XXII. 189.Google Scholar
(41)Torrey, (1917). Journ. Bact. II. 434.Google Scholar
(42)Torrey, (1919). Journ. Med. Research, XXXIX. 415.Google Scholar
(43)Webster, (1923). Journ. Exper. Med. XXXVII. 21.Google Scholar
(44)Zeissler, and Käckel, (1922). Jahrb. f. Kinderheilk. XCIX. 308.Google Scholar