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 ...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.展开更多
文摘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.