NORMAL FLORA OF HUMAN

BODY

By:
R.Ph Saba Inayat Ali
Lecturer
DCOP
Objectives
 Definition of Normal flora
 Kind of organisms in various parts of
human body
 The benefits of the normal flora
 DEFINITION
 Normal flora is the mixture of
microorganisms (bacteria and fungi)
that are regularly found at any
anatomical site of human body like:
 Skin
 Eyes (i.e.Cunjunctiva)
 Nose (i.e. Respiratory tract)
 Mouth (i.e Human Oral Cavity)
 Ears
 GI tract
 Urogenital tract
HUMAN FLORA
 Some of these organisms are known to
perform tasks that are useful for the human
host, while the majority have no known
beneficial or harmful effect

 Those that are expected to be present, and

that under normal circumstances do not
cause disease, are termed normal flora, or
microbiota
 the vast majority of bacteria live in the large intestine

 Many of the bacteria in the digestive tract,

collectively referred to as gut flora, are able to break
down certain nutrients such as carbohydrates
Normal (microbial) flora
 Bacteria (numerous), fungi and protozoa
(few)
 Normally found in and on healthy human
body (1012 on skin, 1010 in mouth, 1014 in
GI tract)
 Usually do not cause any problems or
disease for the host body
Normal flora
 Resident flora
 inhabit on skin and mucous membrane
 permanent living as long as human life

 Transient flora
 from environmental to human body
 present for short time
Relationship between normal
flora and host (symbiosis)
 Mutualism
 Both benefit
 E.coli produce Vitamin K
for human
 Commensalism
 Microb benefits : host
unharmed
 Propionicbacterim sp. on skin
 Parasitism
 Microbe benefits : host
harmed
 disease-causing organism
 The majority of these commensal bacteria are
anaerobes, meaning they survive in an
environment with no oxygen (GIT).
Opportunist
 Bacteria of the normal flora can act as opportunistic
pathogens at times of lowered immunity

 Opportunistic pathogen
 normal flora : S. aureus, E.coli
 environmental organism : Ps. aeruginosa

Opportunistic infection
Bacteroides bacteria, which normally reside in
the intestines, may produce abscesses if they
penetrate into deeper tissues via traumatic or
surgical wounds.
E.coli, a normal inhabitant of the GI tract, is
the most common cause of urinary tract
infections.
 “ The resident normal
flora protects humans
from invasion by
pathogenic
microorganisms but is
also a potential source of
pathogens”
 The benefits of normal flora
 Synthesized and excrete
vitamins
 enteric bacteria : Vit K,
Vit B12
 lactic acid bacteria : Vit
B
 Prevent colonization by
pathogens (Colonization
resistance)
 competing for attachment
sites and for nutrients
The benefits of normal flora
 Produce toxin that are harmful to other
bacteria
 colicin
 inhibit or kill other bacteria
Skin flora
 Staphylococcus
epidermidis

 Micrococcus spp.
(M. luteus)

 Corynebacterium

 Candida albicans
 Skin bacteria or their metabolites may
protect against colonization by
dermatophytic fungi or pathogenic
bacteria
 Eye flora

 conjunctiva
 Less of normal flora
 S. epidermidis,
Sterptococcus,
Corynebacterium,
Neisseria
PROTECTION
 Mechanical washing of tears
 Lysozyme
 Little/no opportunity for colonization
Pathogens which do infect the
conjunctiva
 Neisseria gonorrhoeae
 Chlamydia trachomatis
 Infected eye of new
born by Neisseria
gonorrhoeae.
Oral cavity flora
 At birth - sterile
 Streptococcus salivarius (98%) until the
appearance of the teeth
 S. mutans persist as long as teeth remain
 Others streptococci : gums, cheeks
 (bacteroides, spirochetes)
 Respiratory tract flora

 NOSTRIL
 Staphylococcus epidermidis
 S.aureus
 Corynebacterium
 URT
Streptococcus spp
Haemophilus
influenzae

 Lower RT (trachea,
bronchi, and
pulmonary tissues)
 sterile
 Sinuses (healthy)
– are sterile (in
normal
conditions)
Gastrointestinal tract flora
esophagus

stomach
 esophagus
 stomach :
pH~2 large small
 small intestine intestine

intestine
 large
intestine
 STOMACH
 Rare
 LACTOBACILLI (probiotics)
 Helicobacter pylori
 H. plyori creates it own
microenvironment by
burrowing into the
mucosal lining of the
stomach. Within the
lining, the microbe is
then able to avoid pH
levels that would
normally kill it. Here, it
may also produce
ulcers.
 Probiotic
 They help us digest our food
 kill harmful microorganisms
 keep us functioning properly in a number
of ways.
Helicobacter pylori

 Related to gastric
ulcers, cancer

 Most common
bacterial infection
BENEFITS OF THE INTESTINAL
FLORA
 E.coli synthesizes vitamin K
 Compete for attachment sites of
pathogenic species
 Bacterial digestive enzyme that convert
disaccharides to monosaccharides
 Many species ferment waste material,
generating vitamins (B12, K,
riboflavin(B2) and thiamine B1) and
acid
 Producing gases (CO2, H2, CH4, H2S)
Urinary tract flora
 Kidney, bladder,
urine in bladder are
free of
microorganism
 Urethra
 S.epidermidis,
Enterococci,
Neisseria,
Mycoplasma
Genital (female) flora
 Uterus,
fallopian tube,
ovary are free
of
microorgnism
 Vagina
 Lactobacillus
 Staphylococci,
Streptococci,
Candida
 Lactobacillus acidophilus colonizes the vaginal
epithelium during child-bearing years and
establishes the low pH that inhibits the growth
of pathogens.
Sterile part
 Blood
 Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)
 Synovial fluid
 Deep tissue
REFERENCE
 Medical microbiology and immunology
by Levinson