Fecal material

Emollient laxatives lubricate the intestinal walls and soften the stool, thereby enhancing passage of fecal material. Mineral oil is an emollient laxative. 

Direct wet mounts are prepared by placing a small drop of 0.85% saline toward one end of a glass slide (2 by 3 in. [ca. 5 by 7.5 cm]) and a small drop of appropriate iodine solution (see below) toward the other end. With an applicator stick, a small portion of specimen (1 to 2 mg) is thoroughly mixed in each diluent, and a no. 1 cover slip (22 mm) is added. The density of fecal material should be such that newspaper print can be read with difficulty through the smear. The material should not overflow the edges of the cover slip. Grit or debris may prevent the cover slip from seating and may be... 

The Formalin-preserved fecal material is mixed, strained through one layer of cheesecloth into a conical paper cup, poured into the tube to a level about 1 cm from the top, and then centrifuged. 

It is normally found in parts of Europe, Africa, Asia, and South America. The natural reservoirs are wild and domestic cloven-footed animals. It is one of the most contagious diseases of these animals. Airborne spread is possible up to 40 miles over land and 180 miles over water. It can survive for up to 2 weeks in dry fecal material and for 6 months in slurry, about 1 week in urine, and over 3 months in hay. 

T. Kishida, F. Taguchi, L. Feng, A. Tatsuguchi, J. Sato, S. Fujimori, H. Tachikawa, Y. Tamagawa, Y. Yoshida and M. Kobayashi, Analysis of bile acids in colon residual liquid or fecal material in patients with colorectal neoplasia and control subjects, J. Gastroenterol., 1997, 32, 306. 

Laxatives are used to increase stool frequency and reduce stool viscosity. Even with long-term use, bulk laxatives and pure osmolar laxatives do not predispose patients to formation of a cathartic-type colon and should be the initial agents used for chronic constipation after a structural obstructing lesion has been excluded. Laxatives are also used before radiological, endoscopic, and abdominal surgical procedures such preparations quickly empty the colon of fecal material. Nonabsorbable hyperosmolar solutions or saline laxatives are used for this purpose. Classification and comparison of representative laxatives are provided in Table 40.1. 

Stool softeners Docusate sodium, 50-500 mg daily. Docusate calcium, 240 mg daily Colace, Kaopectate Stool Softener, various generic Softens fecal material via detergent action that allows water to penetrate stool. 

A mass movement is characterized by the following sequence of events. First, a constrictive ring occurs at a distended or irritated point in the colon, usually in the transverse colon, and then rapidly thereafter the 20 cm or more of colon distal to the constriction contract almost as a unit, forcing the fecal material in this segment en masse down the colon. During this process, the haustrations disappear completely. The initiation of contraction is complete in about 30 sec, and relaxation then occurs during the next 2 to 3 min before another mass movement occurs. But the whole series of mass movements will usually persist for only 10 min to half an hour, and they will then return perhaps a half day or even a day later. 

Bacteria of the genus Citrobacter from the family Enterobacteriaceae are inhabitants of the intestinal tract and are present in sewage, surface waters, and food contaminated with fecal material. In accordance with close phylogenetic relationship to Salmonella, Citrobacter has a so-called Salmonella-type enterobacterial LPS core (inner Hep3Kdo2 pentasaccharide with both HepI and HepII phosphorylated at 0-4 and HepII substituted at 0-3 with a Glc residue). Two core structures recently fully characterized (C. werkmanii PCM 1548 and PCM 1549) (Kondakova et al., 2009) also contain a GalA residue linked at position 7 of HepIII, which is known to occur in both Salmonella-type (Providencia, see below) and non-Salmonella-type core (Proteus, Holst, 2002, 2007). 

---