Effects of dietary lactose and purified diet on intestinal microflora of rats

In the rats fed on lactose-containing purified diet (PDL), bifidobacteria remarkably increased in number in both the jejunum and cecum as compared with those fed on control diet (PD) or conventional diet (NMF). Besides, lactobacilli, streptococci, staphylococci, and Escherichia coli increased in number in the jejuna and/or ceca of rats fed on PDL as compared with those fed on PD. The incidence and numbers of Lactobacillus species were remarkably different between the rats fed on PDL and those on any of the other diets. Indole-producing Bacteroides spp. were rarely isolated from the PDL-fed rats. The cecum was markedly enlarged in the PDL rats and reduced in the PD rats as compared with that in the NMF animals.