INTERACTION OF DDT AND GASTROINTESTINAL MICROFLORA OF RAT

Osborne-Mendel rats were maintained on diets containing 100 p.p.m. of p,p′-DDT. The microflora of the gastrointestinal tract were not significantly altered by this diet. Pure cultures of bacteria, typically found in the gastrointestinal tract, were grown in the presence of DDT. Most of the genera studied degraded the pesticide to DDD; the exception was the Gram-positive cocci. The negative findings for those organisms may be due to intracellular binding of DDT and its metabolites. These data provide evidence that DDD in the feces of rats fed DDT may largely be the product of microbial rather than mammalian metabolism. © 1968, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.