Conference probes intestinal microbes

A conference on the intestinal microflora of Chinese people was recently held in Beijing, and a research report that focused on categorization of different Chinese intestinal microflora types was released.

Healthcare experts from home and abroad attended the conference, including Gregor Reid, a professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Western Ontario, who is globally regarded as a probiotics and prebiotics pioneer.

The research was the first of its kind on intestinal microflora that was completely conducted by China's researchers and institutes, according to the conference organizers, which included institutes such as China Society for the Promotion of Science and Technology Commercialization, and the National Information Center for Senior Care.

The researchers sampled stools of more than 5,000 Chinese people of all ages from 18 provinces and municipalities in China, including Beijing, and Jiangsu and Anhui provinces, to establish a database of intestinal microflora, and then looked to categorize the intestinal microflora based on characteristics.

In the end, researchers determinded 10 groups, including intestinal microflora that are likely to appear in healthy infants, young children, teenagers or seniors, and intestinal microflora that are likely to appear among people with mild, chronic or severe diseases.

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