Composition and bile salt transforming capacity of the bacterial flora of ileal effluent in patients with ileostomies.

The bacterial ecology of ileal effluent in 4 patients with ileostomy has been studied and shown to consist of a mixture of both aerobic and anaerobic species. The capacity of these bacteria to degrade sodium taurocholate has been examined. While deconjugation was shown to be a property of a number of anaerobic organisms, none was found capable of effecting de-hydroxylation.