<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

Techniques are becoming available which may make it easier to analyze the
mix of intestinal microflora.  If such a tool becomes common practice, it
may be possible to quickly identify whether an individual patient's
microflora may be contributing to or causing illness.  The following is one
such promising method:

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Mol Cell Probes. 2004 Aug;18(4):223-34

DNA microarray analysis of predominant human intestinal bacteria in fecal
samples.

Wang RF, Beggs ML, Erickson BD, Cerniglia CE.

Microbiology Division, National Center for Toxicological Research, US-FDA,
3900 NCTR Rd, Jefferson, AR 72079, USA.

A microarray method was developed for the detection of 40 bacterial species
reported in the literature to be predominant in the human gastrointestinal
tract. The 40 species include seven species each of Bacteroides and
Clostridium, six species of Ruminococcus, five species of Bifidobacterium,
four species of Eubacterium, two species each of Fusobacterium,
Lactobacillus and Enterococcus, and single species each of Collinsella,
Eggerthella, Escherichia, Faecalibacterium and Finegoldia. Three 40-mer
oligos specific for each bacterial species were designed based on
comparison of the 16S rDNA sequences available in the GenBank database, and
were used to make the DNA-array on epoxy slides. Using two universal
primers, the 16S rRNA gene from bacteria present in fecal samples were
amplified and labeled with Cyanine5-dCTP by PCR, and then hybridized to the
DNA-array. After resolving some difficulties caused by sequence conflicts
in GenBank and inaccurate reference strains, all 40 bacterial reference
species gave positive results. The microarray method was used to screen
fecal samples obtained from 11 healthy human volunteers for the presence of
these intestinal bacteria. The results indicated that 25-37 of the 40
species could be detected in each fecal sample and that 33 of the species
were found in a majority of the samples.

PMID: 15271382 [PubMed - in process]

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