VARIATIONS IN THE INTESTINAL FLORA OF RATS ON PURIFIED DIETS. I. THE EFFECT OF PYRIDOXINE DEFICIENCY ON THE LEVEL OF COLI-AEROGENES ORGANISMS

SUMMARY: Presumptive counts were made of several groups of intestinal organisms in caecal and rectal contents of rats fed on purified diets with and without adequate levels of pyridoxine. In the absence of pyridoxine the numbers of coli-aerogenes bacteria were higher in the caecal contents of rats fed on a purified diet containing glucose. This might not have been so if the diet had contained starch instead of sugar.