Repeated Examinations, Using the Laparotomy Sampling Technique, of the Gastro‐intestinal Microflora of Baboons Fed a Natural or a Synthetic Diet

摘要

Summary.Semi‐quantitative studies on serial gastro‐intestinal aspirates taken at laparotomy showed an increase in both numbers and types of organisms on passing down the baboon intestine from stomach to colon. In baboons fed a natural diet of fresh fruit and vegetables, the stomach, duodenum, and jejenum were sparsely populated, the flora consisting mainly of yeasts and lactobacilli, together with small numbers of faecal streptococci, micrococci and staphylococci. The mid‐ileum was more heavily populated, yeasts, lactobacilli and faecal streptococci being present in most samples, while lactose‐fermenting enterobacteria were isolated from half the aspirates, and in some, small numbers of micrococci, staphylococci andClostridium welchiiwere present. The caecum and colon aspirates were heavily populated with all the organisms mentioned above. Differences between the intestinal flora of baboons fed the natural diet and baboons fed a synthetic diet were similar to the difference noted previously (Uphill, 1973) for the faecal flora. The suitability of laparotomy technique as a means of examining the flora of the various regions of the baboon gut is di