Effects of Fermented Whey in Treating Bacillary Dysentery and on the Gastrointestinal Flora of Apparently Healthy Albino Rats

In this study, the effects of fermented whey （FW） in treating bacillary dysentery caused by Shigellaflexneri in albino rats and on the gastrointestinal （GIT） flora of apparently healthy albino rats （AHARs） were investigated. Prior the therapeutic assay, the growth inhibitory activity （GIA） of whey subjected to different fermentation durations at 30 ~ 2 ~C was first investigated using agar diffusion assay on the test organism, conventional antibiotics served as control. After this, the infectious dose of the organism was determined and used to infect another set of AHARs. The infected rats were grouped into two; group one was treated with 1.0 mL of the FW that exerted the highest GIA in the in vitro assay （FW1）, once daily for 7 d while group two was left untreated. The rats were observed for signs of recovery while their large intestine was subjected to histopathological examinations. For the effects of whey on GIT flora of AHARs, another group of AHARs was fed with FW1 for 3months. At 7 d intervals, their faeces were examined for microbial types and load. The in vitro GIA of the FWs on the test organism was superior to that of most of the antibiotics used and the administration of FW1 to infected rats caused them to recover by 72 h while those not treated with FW1 started to recover by 168 h. FWl did not significantly （p 〈 0.05） affect the GIT microflora loads but only the types.

Are our endoscopy patients at risk for pyogenic liver abscess?

This is an editorial comment on a recent publication reporting an increased rate of pyogenic liver abscesses(PLAs) after upper gastrointestinal panendoscopy. Its aim is to critically highlight the findings, limitations and potential clinical implications of this study. Issues of the mucosal barrier, the microbial flora, administration of antibiotics and underlying diseases are discussed. The probability of PLAs after endoscopies is not exactly known and the length of the "incubation period" remains unclear, but a possible causality should already suffice to make us think how to avoid them. Especially in patients with risk factors such as diabetes mellitus, end-stage renal disease, liver cirrhosis, biliary tract infection, and malignancies, the potential risk for PLAs should be considered. Unnecessary insufflation during endoscopy(causing mucosal stretching and microscopic tears) as well as mucosal damage(by direct abrasion with the scope) should be avoided in order to limit the invasiveness of the procedure as much as possible. And, in everyday routine, it should be kept in mind that in patients after endoscopy, especially in those with a breach of the mucosal barrier and significant comorbidities, PLAs can potentially develop and require timely administration of antibiotics as well as further diagnostic and therapeutic steps.