Effect of a Lactobacillus Product Administration on the Anaerobic Intestinal Flora of Aged Adults

Abstract

Estimations were performed on the numbers of Clostridium perfringens in 1-ml samples of fecal specimens collected from 30 healthy aged adults. These measurements were repeated 15 times for each individual during a 16-week period. Most of the fecal samples proved to consistently contain more than 10⁵ C. perfringens cells and the majority of aged adults were observed to carry over 10⁶ cells of this organism on more than eight testing occasions. Few adults were revealed to carry over 10⁷ cells with fairly strong a-toxigenicities without any clinical symptoms. An attempt to decrease the numbers of organisms pre sent by continued drinking of a commercial product containing live lactobacilli resulted in failure, whilst a gradual increase in the numbers of lactobacilli and a decrease in the numbers of Bacteroides were observed. Most infants when examined for the numbers of C. perfringens in a 1-ml portion of their fecal specimens, showed less than 102 cells of this organism and when given the Lactobacillus preparation per os exhibited a rapid increase in the numbers of lactobacilli in their intestinal contents.