Effect of normal microbial flora on intestinal surface area

Gordon, Helmut A.; Bruckner-Kardoss, Edith

doi:10.1152/ajplegacy.1961.201.1.175

Cited by 143 publications

(52 citation statements)

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“…The antibiotic had no effect on this parameter of the jejunum or of the total small intestine of the chick. Gordon and Bruckner-Kardoss (1961b) determined the intestinal surface area of germfree and conventional rats and compared the procedure with determinations of dry matter per unit of length. They concluded that dry matter per unit of length may be regarded as a usable substitute for surface area.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Wostmann et al (1960) reported that penicillin supplementation of the diet of conventional chickens reduced both the amount of lamina propria and the scattered reticuloendothelial elements in the ileum to near germfree levels. Gordon and Bruckner-Kardoss (1961b) further determined in rats that the intestinal surface area was significantly reduced in germfree compared to conventional animals and that the effect was most pronounced in the mid and lower portions of the intestine. These researchers also demonstrated that dry matter per unit length of the intestine can be regarded as a usable substitute for surface area.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effects of Diet, Bacitracin, and Body Weight Restrictions on the Intestine of Broiler Chicks

1983

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Six experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of diet, bacitracin, and body weight restrictions on the intestine of the broiler chick. Bacitracin, at levels of 11 and 55 ppm, significantly increased body weight, significantly reduced small intestine weight, but had no significant effect on liver weight of chicks fed a soybean protein and sucrose-based diet. The greatest effects were observed in the ileum where weight, moisture, length per unit of body weight, and dry matter per unit of length were all significantly reduced. The least effects were observed in the duodenum where weight and length per unit of body weight were significantly reduced and dry matter per unit of length was significantly increased. Intestinal weight, as a percent of body weight, was not significantly affected when body weight was suppressed with a high level of nicarbazin added to a practical diet, but it was significantly reduced when bacitracin was added to the semipurified diet and chicks were restricted in food intake to 70% of controls. A level of 55 ppm of bacitracin added to the practical diet had no significant effect on body weight, intestinal weight, or liver weight. As discussed, the observed changes in the intestine, due to bacitracin, are probably indirect and most likely reflect the action of the antibiotic on the intestinal microflora.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Diet, Bacitracin, and Body Weight Restrictions on the Intestine of Broiler Chicks

1983

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“…The small intestine mucosal surface area of the germ-free rat is on an average 30 p. 100 lower than that of the conventional animal ; this reduction is marked in the mid and lower parts of the small intestine and relatively slight in the upper segments (Gordon and Bruckner-Kardoss, 1961). But, according to Meslin (1971), the mucosal surface area of the proximal intestine is larger and that of the distal part more reduced in the germ-free than in the conventional rat.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 91%

Digestive enzymes in the germ-free animal

Corring¹,

Juste²,

Simoes-Nunes³

1981

Reprod. Nutr. Dévelop.

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Summary.The digestive physiology of the germ-free animal has a number of characteristics (cecal hypertrophy, slower small intestine cell renewal, slower gastric emptying and intestinal transit) which distinguish it from that of the conventional animal. If the germ-free model is to be used to determine the role of gastrointestinal microflora in the nutrition of the conventional animal, it is essential to complete the study of these characteristics by data on digestive enzymes in the germ-free. The present paper analyzes these data.There In general, the germ-free animal has some characteristics which should permit better utilization of the diet ingested. Measurements of apparent digestibility do not confirm this hypothesis since results obtained in germ-free and conventional animals of the same species are contradictory.The germ-free animal is certainly a very useful tool for studying the role of gastrointestinal microflora in the nutrition of its host. The large intestine contains the largest bacterial population (1 to 3.10 10 bacteria/g fresh contents) and the greatest number of microbial species in the gut (Ducluzeau and Raibaud, 1975 ;Schaedler, 1973). In some cases, bacteria may efficiently intervene in the digestive utilization of the diet ingested by the animal (R6rat, 1978).However, a number of experiments in the germ-free animal have shown that it cannot be considered simply as a conventional animal, deprived of gastrointestinal microflora, since certain characteristics of its digestive physiology distinguish it from the conventional animal (see reviews by Gordon et al.,1966 ;Combe et al., 1976). A knowledge of these characteristics is essential when determining the part due to bacteria in the digestion of an ingested diet.The germ-free state in rodents and lagormorphs leads to a substantial increase in cecal sac contents and size (Glimstedt, 1936 ;Wostmann and Bruckner-Kardoss, 1959 ;Wostmann, Bruckner-Kardoss and Knight, 1968 ;Pleasants, 1959 (Guenet et al., 1970). In the chicken, the rate of epithelial cell migration is lower in the germ-free than in the conventional state, but the relative differences are greater in the lower than in the upper intestine (Rolls, Turvey and Coates, 1978).Gastric emptying and small intestinal transit of the ingested food were found to be slower in the germ-free than in the conventional state. Six hours after a labelled test-meal, the cecum of the germ-free mouse retained a greater percentage of radioactivity than the cecum of the conventional animal, and the passage of the marker into the feces was slower (Abrams and Bishop, 1967). Gastrointestinal transit was also slower in the germ-free than in the conventional rat (Sacquet, Garnier and Raibaud, 1970 ;Riottot et al., 1980), and tended to be longer in germ-free rats fed irradiated diets than in those fed autoclaved diets (Riottot et al.,1980). The aim of the present review is to complete our knowledge of the characteristics of germ-free animal digestive physiology by analyzing data on digestive enzymes. These enzymes (p...

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“…Lower SI weight has generally been reported in germ-free animals compared with conventional counterparts (Reyniers et al, 1960;Gordon and Bruckner-Kardoss, 1961). This higher SI weight and mucosa proportions in the GF-FORM pigs are likely the result of a reduced formula-induced intestinal atrophy, previously described for preterm pigs (Bjornvad et al, 2005).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%