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Deconjugation of bile acids by human intestinal bacteria

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Summary

The purpose of this report is to present the deconjugation of bile acids by numbers of strains of bacteria in the small intestine and feces. The small intestinal juice was aseptically aspirated by a double lumen tube with a rubber cover on the tip devised by us (“Fukushima Type 1”). Bile acids were analyzed with thin layer chromatography. The results: 1) Among aerobic bacteria, species of which all of the strains split conjugated bile acids was enterococcus, and most of the strains split were Staphylococcus (S.) epidermidis and Lactobacillus (L.) bifidus. Species of which none of the strains split were Escherichia (E.) coli, E. communior, E. freundii, L. plantarum, L. acidophilus, L. buchneri, L. cellobiosus, L. bulgaricus, S. aureus, Aerobacter aerogenes, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Candida, proteus, serratia, and almost none of the species split was Intermediate coliform bacilli. 2) Among anaerobic bacteria, species of which all of the strains split were Bacteroides (B.) vulgatus, B. thetaiotaomicron, B. uniformis, Corynebacterium (C.) granulosum, C. avidum, Peptostreptococcus (Peptostrept.) putridus, Eubacterium (Eubact.) lentum, Peptococcus (Pept.) grigoroffii, Pept. anaerobius, Veillonella (V.) orbiculus, and most of the strains split were Coryne. diphtheroides, Eubact. parvum, Peptostrept. intermedius. Species of which none of the strains split were Coryne. parvum, Peptostrept. micros, V. alcalescens, V. parvula, Catenabacterium (Catena.) catenaforme, and Catena, filamentosum. 3) All or none, or almost all or none, of the strains of each species tested split conjugated bile acids, and it seems probable that the presence or absence of this ability would be a proper character of each species.

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  1. The First Department of Internal Medicine, Yokohama City University School of Medicine, 3-46, Urafune-cho, Minami-ku, 232, Yokohama, Japan

    Kunihiko Shindo M.D. & Kokichi Fukushima M.D.

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  1. Kunihiko Shindo M.D.
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  2. Kokichi Fukushima M.D.
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Shindo, K., Fukushima, K. Deconjugation of bile acids by human intestinal bacteria. Gastroenterol Jpn 11, 167–174 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02777700

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