Three types of yogurt supplemented with Bifidobacterium alone, lactulose alone, or both Bifidobacterium and lactulose were fed to healthy persons, who were tested before and after administration. Plain yogurt was fed during a control period. Yogurt containing both Bifidobacterium and lactulose resulted in greater improvement in the form and frequency of feces than the other yogurts. No differences were noted in blood chemistry test results before and after the administration of each type of yogurt. There were no side effects of yogurt administration. The number of Bifidobacterium in the feces increased after the administration of yogurt containing Bifidobacterium and/or lactulose, but there were no differences among the three test yogurts. Not only the administered Bifidobacterium species but also the original Bifidobacterium species was increased by eating Bifidobacterium and lactulose-containing yogurt, but the administered Bifidobacterium species was not increased more than the dominant original species. The ammonia content in the feces decreased more after the administration of Bifidobacterium-and/or lactulose-containing yogurt than after that of plain yogurt but there were no differences among the three test yogurts.

The number of intestinal Candida was correlated with the incidence of Candida infection. The number of intestinal Candida was higher in patients receiving antileukemic chemotherapy than in normal subjects. Respiratory and urinary infections were increased in patients with more than 105 Candida/g feces. Bifidobacterium administered orally to patients with more than 105 Candida/g feces, reduced the incidence of infection if the intestinal Candida population fell to less than 104/g feces.

The intestinal flora of patients with leukemia was changed by chemotherapy. In many cases, Klebsiella, Citrobacter, and Proteus vulgaris, etc., which are normally sparse, increased greatly. Anaerobic bacteria, especially Bacteroides, also increased. Many cases of Candida overgrowth were also observed. This imbalance of intestinal microorganisms was counteracted by oral Bifidobacterium administration. Endotoxin in the blood and indican in the urine were tested in leukemia patients. These tests were positive in many cases and were reduced by Bifidobacterium administration.

We have extended our investigation of nicotinamide deamidation in the stomach of conventional rats. The bacterial species in the pars preventricularis were identified as Flavobacterium peregrinum, Escherichia coli, Streptococcus faecalis, and Lactobacillus acidophilus, listed in order of decreasing deamidase activity. Nicotinamide-7-14C ingested into rat stomach was rapidly deamidated to nicotinic acid. These results contribute to the accumulated evidence that microorganisms present in the pars preventricularis of rat stomach are responsible for the deamidation of nicotinamide to nicotinic acid, a known precursor of mammalian pyridine nucleotides.It has been well recognized that the biosynthesis of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) in mammals can occur through the operation of three different pathways ( Fig.

The resistance of bifidobacteria to six kinds of antibiotics was examined. Bifidobacteria were isolated from the feces of healthy individuals (12 cases) and patients (11 cases) administered an antibiotic-resistant Bifidobacterium preparation (LacB-R(R)). These patients were given antibiotic drugs etc. Only a few of the healthy individuals had the bifidobacteria resistant to ampicillin, cefazolin, erythromycin, minocycline and ofloxacin. However, many of the LacB-R®-administered individuals had the bifidobacteria resistant to the antibiotics except minocycline and ofloxacin . All persons in both group showed resistance to amikacin. The administration of LacB-R(R) was useful to maintain the number of intestinal Bifidobacterium because administered Bifidobacterium was recovered with the healthy control level in some of the patients receiving therapy with many kinds of antibiotics.