Normal Flora, Symbiotic Relationships And Zoonoses Flashcards
What are the prenatal factors affecting the microbiome?
Placenta
What are the neonatal factors affecting the microbiome?
- mode of delivery
- gestational age
What are the postnatal factors affecting the microbiome?
- feeding ie. breast milk vs formula
- geographical location
- family members
- host interactions
- maternal diet
- weaning, what the kid puts in its mouth
What percentage of human cells are microflora?
90%
Where do most microflora reside?
In your gut
What are anaerobes?
Bacteria that grow without air, they are smelly bugs
What are lactobacillus responsible for in the vagina?
Keeping the pH low
What is C.diff?
Clostridium difficile
Where is C.diff found?
In the gut as normal flora, when it is allowed to overgrow it creates toxins that cause inflammation in the gut
What is the only way to deal with C.diff
A faecal transplant
What are some clinical conditions caused by an imbalance of normal flora?
- pharyngitis, dental caries
- abscesses
- sepsis
- endocarditis
- pneumonia
- gastrointestinal, peritonitis
- urogenital infections
What are the 3 types of symbiotic relationships?
- mutualism
- commensalism
- parasitism
What is mutualism?
Where both partners benefit eg. E.coli produces vitamin K in the gut which is required for clotting
What is commensalism?
Where one member benefits while the other is largely unaffected ie normal flora in the human body
What is parasitism?
- Where the organism benefits at the expense of the host
- The parasite obtains nutrients from the host which is harmed in some way
- never normal flora
