Dramatic changes of the gut flora immediately after severe and sudden insults.

BACKGROUND: The gut flora is crucially involved in host homeostasis. However, the changes in the gut flora during the early phase of a critical illness are unknown. AIMS: We investigated the changes in the gut flora at an early phase of severe insult in critically ill patients. METHODS: Fifteen patients who experienced a sudden and severe insult were studied, along with 12 healthy volunteers as the control group. Fecal samples were acquired from the subjects by swabs of the rectum within 6 h after admission to the emergency room (day 0). Samples were serially collected from patients until day 14. Samples were also collected from control subjects. RESULTS: On day 0, total bacterial counts were decreased to one-thousandth the number of the control subjects, in particular, obligate anaerobes and Lactobacillus were significantly decreased. In addition, on day 0, the major short-chain fatty acids of the patients were significantly lower than those of the control subjects. The gut flora and the concentrations of major short-chain fatty acids did not recover to normal levels. In contrast, Enterococcus and Pseudomonas increased during the study period. CONCLUSIONS: The gut flora in critically ill patients changed immediately after a severe insult. The concentrations of the three major short-chain fatty acids were immediately decreased in tandem with the destruction of the gut flora. The gut flora and the concentration of major short-chain fatty acids did not improve during the first 2 weeks after hospital admission. At the same time, the number of harmful bacteria gradually increased.

[Clinical evaluation of urinary leukotriene e4 levels in children with respiratory syncytial virus infection].

The levels of leukotriene E4 (LTE4) of the urine were determined in 24 pediatric patients with infectious diseases due to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), i.e., bronchitis, pneumonia, and bronchiolitis, and compared with those in controls without allergic disease. The level for LTE4 of the acute-phase urine was 620+/-562 pg/mg. cr in the pediatric patients infected with RSV, being significantly higher than 190+/-67 pg/mg. cr in controls (P<0.005). The levels for LTE4 of the urine in the recovery phase showed a tendency toward decrease, as compared to those in the acute phase. However, there was no significant difference in the level for LTE4 of the acute-phase urine between the presence and the absence of each of the following conditions: expiratory wheezing; the association of pneumonia; family history of allergic diseases; the association of atopic dermatitis; and a past history of expiratory wheezing. An allergological study also revealed that there was no significant difference in LTE4 level between the presence and the absence of peripheral eosinophilia or between the presence and the absence of the high total level for IgE of the serum or positivity for the specific IgE level in the serum. These results suggest that LT is involved with the pathological conditions of RSV infection, but there are no direct relation between atopic diathesis or expiratory wheezing and the amounts of LT production.