Bacterial flora and the role they play in our health and disease – (04-22-04)

Reduction in diversity of the colonic mucosa associated bacterial microflora in patients with active inflammatory bowel disease

With a switch to a more “sterile” envrionment, we have been oblivious to the concurrent destruction in normal bacterial flora and the role they play in our health and disease. Although they have many other functions such as vit B12 production and detoxifying exogenous chemicals, a major purpose they serve is purely protective: they are territorial and secrete compounds such as lactic acid that inhibit the growth of many other organisms.

Gut — Abstracts: Ott et al. 53 (5): 685 –

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