Method of analyzing intestinal flora and analytical apparatus

• US 6,986,991 B1
• Filed: 08/31/2000
• Issued: 01/17/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 09/16/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sanyo Electric Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sanyo Electric Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Inoue, Takakazu
• Primary Examiner(s): Horlick, Kenneth R.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Tung, Joyce
• Application Number:
  US10/069,977
• Time in Patent Office: 1,965 Days
• Field of Search: 435/6, 435/91.2, 435/91.52, 435/5, 335/77, 335/78, 335/76, 536/23.1, 536/24.3
• US Class Current: 435/6.16
• CPC Class Codes: C12Q 1/689 for bacteria
• CPC Class Codes: Y02A 90/10 Information and communication technologies [ICT] supporting adaptation to climate change, e.g. for weather forecasting or climate simulation

Abstract

A method of analyzing intestinal bacteria flora which comprises: extracting a sample from a subject; extracting bacteria to prepare a bacteria suspension; extracting DNAs of bacteria from the bacteria suspension to prepare a DNA extract liquid; amplifying a specific region such as 16S rDNA using the DNA extract liquid; fractionating the amplified fragments by electrophoresis to obtain a fractional pattern; and comparing the fractional pattern with preliminarily obtained electrophoretic patterns of amplified fragments of intestinal bacteria flora, thereby analyzing the intestinal bacteria flora of the subject.

Claims

1. A method for analyzing an intestinal bacterial flora of a subject, comprising:

a nucleic acid amplifying step of amplifying nucleic acid of an intestinal bacterial group in a sample extracted from the subject with a specific PCR primer; and

an analysis step of analyzing the intestinal bacterial flora on the basis of an amplified fragment obtained in said nucleic acid amplifying step, wherein

hybridization with said amplified fragment is performed using a plurality of probes so that analysis of the intestinal bacterial flora is performed based upon presence/absence of formation thereof in said analyzing step, and

said probes are arranged on specific positions in a detector.

2. The method for analyzing an intestinal bacterial flora according to claim 1, wherein said probes are arranged on specific positions in a detector.

3. The method for analyzing an intestinal bacterial flora according to claim 2 or 1, wherein nucleic acid amplified from each intestinal bacterium with the PCR primer employed in said nucleic acid amplifying step is used as a probe.

4. The method for analyzing an intestinal bacterial flora according to claim 2 or 1, wherein the nucleic acid obtained in said nucleic acid amplifying step is denatured before introduction into said detector.

5. The method for analyzing an intestinal bacterial flora according to claim 2 or 1, wherein a set temperature of said detector is arbitrarily changeable according to an instruction from a temperature controller.

6. The method for analyzing an intestinal flora according to any of claims 1 to 5, wherein said specific PCR primer has a sequence capable of amplifying a nucleic acid region coding 16SrRNA of said intestinal bacterium.