Composition of the Microbial Community of the Small Intestine of Rats under Conditions of Restraint Stress of Varying Duration.

The composition of the microbial community of the small intestine of rats under chronic restraint stress of varying duration (14 and 28 days) was studied. Identification and quantitative determination of microorganisms were carried out using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry of microbial markers. It was found that under stress exposure, the number of Bifidobacterium spp., Lactobacillus spp., Enterococcus spp., Enterobacteriaceae spp., Actinomyces viscosus, Nocardia asteroides, Clostridium tetani, Clostridium ramosum decreased and the number of Clostridium difficile, Helicobacter pylori, Streptococcus mutans, Propionibacterium freudenreichii, Peptostreptococcus anaerobius increased. It was shown that enterococci are capable of self-restoring their population levels under stress conditions, whereas bifidobacteria, lactobacilli and enterobacteria do not exhibit adaptive capacity.