Foundational Article: Mechnikov I, 1909: Intestinal Bacteriotherapy

[摘要] Although microbiology has solved the mystery of a broad range ofinfectious diseases, it has failed to address most questions regardingconditions of the digestive tract. For anthrax, diphtheria, tuberculosis,pneumonia, erysipelas, tetanus, and a whole host of other infectionsthe etiology is clearly defined, yet when it comes to intestinal diseases,we only know the cause for Asian cholera and bacillary dysentery.Typhoid fever, which is an intestinal septicemia, cannot be classified asa disease of the intestinal tract in the proper sense. But when it comesto cholera nostras, infantile cholera, and many other acute or chronicdiseases of the digestive apparatus (enteritis, appendicitis, colitis),our knowledge remains remarkably limited. Yet these conditions areof utmost importance, given that digestive health affects the wholeorganism and influences the skin, the circulation, the excretory system,and even the nervous system and the psyche.

[学科分类] 生理学

[关键词] bacteriotherapy;microbiology;microbes;micobiome;historical article