Abstract
As dietary fiber passes through the human colon, a substantial portion of it is digested by the resident bacteria (Van Soest, 1978; Ehle et al., 1982). Clearly, this digestion by bacteria alters the structure of the fiber itself. It is also possible that dietary fiber affects the bacteria in turn by changing both the metabolic activities and the species composition of the colonic microflora. The question of how and to what extent fiber in the diet affects the colonic microflora is an important one because the metabolic activities of these bacteria largely determine the physicochemical environment of the colon.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Abrams, G. D., 1983, Impact of the intestinal microflora on intestinal structure and function, in: Human Intestinal Microflora in Health and Disease ( D. J. Hentges, ed.), Academic, New York, pp. 292–310.
Bokkenheuser, V. D., and Winter, J., 1983, Biotransformations of steroids, in: Human Intestinal Microflora in Health and Disease ( D. J. Hentges, ed.), Academic, New York, pp. 214–240.
Bornside, G. H., 1978, Stability of the human fecal flora, Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 31: S141–S144.
Bornside, G. H., and Cohn, I., 1975, Stability of the normal fecal flora during a chemically defined low residue liquid diet, Ann. Surg. 181: 58–60.
Bounous, G., and Devroede, G. J., 1974, Effects of an elemental diet on human fecal flora, Gastroenterology 66: 210–214.
Crowther, J. S., Drasar, B. S., Goddard, P., Hill, M. J., and Johnson, K., 1973, The effect of a chemically defined diet on the fecal flora and fecal steroid concentration, Gut 14: 790–793.
Drasar, B. S., and Jenkins, D. J. A., 1976, Bacteria, diet and large bowel cancer, Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 29: 1410–1416.
Drasar, B. S., Jenkins, D. J. A., and Cummings, J. H., 1976, The influence of a diet rich in wheat fiber on the human fecal flora, J. Med. Microbiol 9: 423–431.
Ehle, F. R., Robertson, J. B., and Van Soest, P. J., 1982, Influence of dietary fibers on fermentation in the human large intestine, Nutr. 112: 158–166.
Finegold, S. M., Sutter, V. L., and Mathisen, G. E., 1983, Normal indigenous intestinal flora, in: Human Intestinal Microflora in Health and Disease ( D. J. Hentges, ed.), Academic, New York, pp. 3–32.
Fuchs, H.-M., Dorfman, S., and Floch, M. H., 1976, The effect of dietary fiber supplementation in man. II, Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 29: 1443–1447.
Goldman, P., 1983, Biochemical pharmacology and toxicology involving the intestinal flora, in: Human Intestinal Microflora in Health and Disease ( D. J. Hentges, ed.), Academic, New York, pp. 241–264.
Hentges, D. J., Maier, B. R., Burton, G. C., FLynn, M. A., and Tsutakawa, R. K., 1977, Effect of a high beef diet on the fecal bacterial flora of humans, Cancer Res. 37: 568–571.
Hespell, R. B., and Smith, C. J., 1983, Utilization of nitrogen sources by gastrointestinal tract bacteria, in: Human Intestinal Microflora in Health and Disease ( D. J. Hentges, ed.), Academic, New York, pp. 167–188.
Holdeman, L. V., Cato, E. P., and Moore, W. E. C., 1977, Anaerobe Laboratory Manual, 4th ed., Anaerobe Laboratory, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia.
Hylemon, P. B., and Glass, T. L., 1983, Biotransformations of bile acids and cholesterol by the intestinal microflora, in: Human Intestinal Microflora in Health and Disease ( D. J. Hentges, ed.), Academic, New York, pp. 189–240.
Kotarski, S. F., and Salyers, A. A., 1984, Isolation and characterization of outer membrane of Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron grown on different carbohydrates, J. Bacteriol. 158: 102–109.
Kuritza, A. P., and Salyers, A. A., 1983, Simultaneous identification and quantitation of Bacteroides species using DNA hybridization, Presented at 83rd Annual Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology, Abstract C402.
Leary, J. T., Brigati, D. J., and Ward, D. C., 1983, Rapid and sensitive colorimetric method for visualizing biotin-labeled DNA probes hybridized to DNA or RNA immobilized on nitrocellulose, Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA 80: 4045–4049.
Linn, S. L., Chan, T. C., Lipeski, L., and Salyers, A. A., 1983, Isolation and characterization of two chondroitin lyases from Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, J. Bacteriol. 156: 859–866.
Mackowiak, P. A., 1982, The normal microbial flora, N. Engl. J. Med. 307: 83–93.
McNeil, N. I., Cummings, J. H., and James, W. P. T., 1978, Short chain fatty acid absorption by the human large intestine, Gut 19: 819–822.
Moore, W. E. C., and Holdeman, L. V., 1974, Human fecal flora, Appl. Microbiol. 27: 961–979.
Moore, W. E. C., Cato, E. P., and Holdeman, L. V., 1978, Some current concepts in intestinal bacteriology, Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 31: S33–S42.
Salyers, A. A., and Kotarski, S. F., 1980, Induction of chondroitin sulfate lyase activity in Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, J. Bacteriol. 143: 781–788.
Salyers, A. A., and Leedle, J. Z., 1983, Carbohydrate metabolism in the human colon, in: Human Intestinal Microflora in Health and Disease ( D. J. Hentges, ed.), Academic, New York, pp. 129–146.
Salyers, A. A., and O’Brien, M., 1980, Cellular location of enzymes involved in chondroitin sulfate breakdown by Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, J. Bacteriol. 143: 772–780.
Salyers, A. A., Arthur, R. A., and Kuritza, A., 1981, Digestion of larch arabinogalactan by a strain of human colonic Bacteroides growing in continuous culture, J. Agric. Food Chem. 29: 475–480.
Salyers, A. A., O’Brien, M., and Kotarski, S. F., 1982, Utilization of chondroitin sulfate by Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron growing in carbohydrate-limited continuous culture, J. Bac- teriol. 150: 1008–1015.
Salyers, A. A., Lynn, S. L., and Gardner, J. F., 1983, Use of randomly cloned DNA fragments for identification of Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, J. Bacteriol. 154: 287–293.
Savage, D. C, 1977, Microbial ecology of the gastrointestinal tract, Annu. Rev. Microbiol 31: 107–133.
Savage, D. C., 1983, Association of indigenous microorganisms with gastrointestinal epithelial surfaces, in: Human Intestinal Microflora in Health and Disease ( D. J. Hentges, ed.), Academic, New York, pp. 55–78.
Van Soest, P. J., 1978, Dietary fibers: Their definition and nutritional properties, Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 31: S12–S20.
Wilkins, T. D., and Van Tasseil, R. L., 1983, Productions of intestinal mutagens, in: Human Intestinal Microflora in Health and Disease ( D. J. Hentges, ed.), Academic, New York, pp. 265–291.
Wolin, M. J., and Miller, T. L., 1983, Carbohydrate fermentation, in: Human Intestinal Micro- flora in Health and Disease ( D. J. Hentges, ed.), Academic, New York, pp. 147–165.
Wostmann, B. S., and Bruckner-Kardoss, E., 1966, Oxidation-reduction potentials in cecal contents of germfree and conventional rats, Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med. 128: 137–141.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1986 Plenum Press, New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Salyers, A.A. (1986). Diet and the Colonic Environment: Measuring the Response of Human Colonic Bacteria to Changes in the Host’s Diet. In: Vahouny, G.V., Kritchevsky, D. (eds) Dietary Fiber. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-2111-8_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-2111-8_9
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-9249-4
Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-2111-8
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive