title: Enterobacteriaceae in the jejunal microflora prevalence and relationship to biochemical and histological evaluations in healthy Colombian men.
abstract: When 23 healthy native Southwestern Colombian men were studied to determine the prevalence of Enterobacteriaceae in the jejunal microflora in a sample of thoroughly evaluated tropical inhabitants who were normal by physical examination, chest x-ray, and medical history, 14 of the 23 proved to be Enterobacteriaceae-positive, with counts of 10(3) to 10(9) per milliliter of jejunal aspirate. Thirteen had Escherichia coli, and the fourteenth had Klebsiella pneumoniae. Four had a second species of Enterobacteriaceae associated with E. coli: three were K. pneumoniae, and one was Proteus morganii. Laboratory studies routinely done on all subjects disclosed a total of 18 low biochemical values, 17 of which were associated with 12 of the 14 Enterobacteriaceae-positive subjects: six were low in serum cholesterol, four low in serum vitamin B12, four low in D-xylose excretion, and three low in creatinine coefficient; whereas, the Enterobacteriaceae-negative subjects had normal values for all biochemical tests except for serum vitamin B12 in one case. Nitrogen balance means were significantly different for the two groups: 3.39 g for the Enterobacteriaceae-positive subjects and 1.94 g for the Enterobacteriaceae-negative. No relationship was evident when the histology of the jejunal biopsies was compared with the microbiological or laboratory findings. When the 23 subjects were grouped into those (N = 19) with significant microbial recoveries of any type and those (N = 4) without, the data yielded no meaningful relationships.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood; D003105:Colombia; D003404:Creatinine / Q000652:urine; D004755:Enterobacteriaceae; D004926:Escherichia coli; D006801:Humans; D007583:Jejunum / Q000382:microbiology*; D007711:Klebsiella pneumoniae; D008297:Male; D011511:Proteus; D014329:Tropical Climate; D014805:Vitamin B 12 / Q000097:blood; D014994:Xylose / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D002784:Cholesterol; D014994:Xylose; D003404:Creatinine; D014805:Vitamin B 12