Abstract
Lecithinase-positive clostridia including Clostridium perfringens isolated from feces of nine healthy adults each fed lactulose (3 g/day for 2 wk) or lactosucrose (2 g/day for 1 wk) were examined. Before the consumption of lactulose or lactosucrose, lecithinase-positive clostridia in fecal specimens were detected in 9/9 (mean 3.9 × 105/g) and 8/9 (4.5 × 105/g) specimens, respectively. On consumption of lactulose or lactosucrose, they were detected in 4/9 (4.2 × 103/g after 2 wk) or 6/9 (2.9 × 104/g after 1 wk) specimens, respectively.
Clostridia isolated from 18 fecal specimens before consumption were identified as C. perfringens (102-108/g) from 17/18 specimens, C. sordellii (103-105/g) and C. baratii (102/g) from 2 specimens each, and C. bifermentans (103/g) from 1 specimen, but only C. perfringens from 4/9 (102-105/g) and 6/9 (102-107/g) specimens on lactulose and lactosucrose consumption, respectively.
