Abstract
At birth, the intestine is sterile and colonic function of the human infant is immature. The development of the colonic function (i.e., water absorption and carbohydrate fermentation) is related in part to that of the bacterial flora. The role of the bacterial flora (intestinal microbiota) has evolved in recent years and in addition to the metabolic functions that was known to perform, an important inmunoregulatory role has been established and the human microbiome project has been launched with the goal of identifying and characterizing the microorganisms which are found in association with both healthy and diseased humans. Modulation of the fecal flora by probiotics is the topic of active investigation. The role of the flora in health and disease is no longer a hypothesis. Characteristics of the flora have been implicated in as causing or perpetuating acute and chronic illnesses that may extend into adulthood. Products of carbohydrate fermentation have also been seen to play a regulatory role in the life cycle of the colonocyte, the epithelial cell of the colon. Both in infants and adults, a variable proportion of dietary carbohydrate is not absorbed in the small bowel and arrives in the colon where it undergoes bacterial fermentation. The products of this fermentation are short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), principally acetate, propionate, and butyrate [1], together with gases such as CO2, hydrogen (H2), and methane (CH4). A fraction of these products are absorbed through the colonic mucosa into the circulatory system; butyrate is utilized by the epithelial cells of the colon [2]; the rest is expelled through the anus as stools or flatus [3].
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Lifschitz, C.H. (2013). The Role of Colonic Flora in Infants. In: Watson, R., Grimble, G., Preedy, V., Zibadi, S. (eds) Nutrition in Infancy. Nutrition and Health. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-62703-254-4_20
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