Sulfate-reducing bacteria in human feces and their association with inflammatory bowel diseases

We have searched for sulfate-reducing bacteria in the feces of 41 healthy individuals and 110 patients from a Hepato-Gastro-Enterology Unit using a specific liquid medium (Test-kit Labege(R), Compagnie Franqaise de Geothermie, Orleans, France). The I 10 patients were separated in 22 patients presenting with inflammatory bowel diseases and 88 patients hospitalized for other lower (11 = 30) or upper (n = 58) digestive tract diseases. Sulfate-reducing bacteria were isolated from 10 healthy individuals (24%), 15 patients presenting with inflammatory bowel diseases (68%), and 33 patients with other symptoms (37%). A multiplex PCR was devised for the identification of Desu fovibrio piger (formerly Desulfomonas pigra), Desulfovibrio fairfieldensis and Desuvibrio desulfuricans, and applied to the above isolates. The strains of sulfate-reducing bacteria consisted of D. piger (39 isolates), D.fairfieldensis (19 isolates) and D. desulfuricans (one isolate). The prevalence of D. piger was significantly higher in inflammatory bowel disease patients (55%) as compared to healthy individuals (12%) or patients with other symptoms (25%) (P < 0.05). (C) 2002 Federation of European Microbiological Societies. Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.