Concentration of Escherichia coli (in colony forming units=cfu) in faeces

Range in infancy >10^9 cfu/gram of faeces: after age 2 ~10^8 cfu/gram of faeces, gradually decreasing in the elderly cfu/gram of faeces
Organism Human Homo sapiens
Reference Tenaillon O, Skurnik D, Picard B, Denamur E. The population genetics of commensal Escherichia coli. Nat Rev Microbiol. 2010 Mar8(3):207-17. doi: 10.1038/nrmicro2298 p.208 left column 2nd paragraphPubMed ID20157339
Primary Source [11] Mitsuoka T, Hayakawa K. [The fecal flora in man. I. Composition of the fecal flora of various age groups]. [Article in German] Zentralbl Bakteriol Orig A. 1973 Mar223(2):333-42 [12] Penders J et al., Factors influencing the composition of the intestinal microbiota in early infancy. Pediatrics. 2006 Aug118(2):511-21 DOI: 10.1542/peds.2005-2824PubMed ID4145840, 16882802
Method Primary source [12] abstract: "Fecal samples from 1032 infants at 1 month of age, who were recruited from the KOALA Birth Cohort Study in the Netherlands, were subjected to quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction assays for the enumeration of bifidobacteria, Escherichia coli, Clostridium difficile, Bacteroides fragilis group, lactobacilli, and total bacterial counts. Information on potential determinants of the gut microbiotic composition was collected with repeated questionnaires. The associations between these factors and the selected gut bacteria were analyzed with univariate and multivariate analyses."
Comments P.208 left column 2nd paragraph: "E. coli is among the first bacterial species to colonize the intestine during infancy, reaching very high density (higher than 10^9 cfu per gram of faeces)[primary sources] before the expansion of anaerobes [ref 21]. After 2 years, the density stabilizes and remains at around 10^8 cfu per gram of faeces until it gradually decreases in the elderly [primary source 11]. The initial strains may originate from the maternal faecal microbiota and also from the maternity nursing staff [ref 22]. In fact, increased hygiene in hospitals and in families living in industrial countries has reduced early colonization by E. coli [refs 23,24]."
Entered by Uri M
ID 116916