The phylum Firmicutes constitutes the most diverse and abundant group of gastrointestinal microbiota which are grouped into four classes, Bacilli, Clostridia, Erysipelotrichia, and Negativicutes. They constitute about 39% of gut bacteria in healthy adults, but may increase to as high as 80% in an imbalanced microbial community.
Gram-negative Bacteroidetes and grampositive Firmicutes are bacterial phyla that dominate the entire human digestive tract, including the mouth, nose, throat, and colon. An abnormal result in one or both of these phylum suggest imbalanced normal microbes in the GI tract. Further, high Firmicutes and low Bacteroidetes (resulting in a high F/B ratio) suggest microbial imbalance which may be related to increased caloric extraction from food, fat deposition and lipogenesis, impaired insulin sensitivity, and increased inflammation.
- High Firmicutes and low Bacteroidetes abundances have been equivocally associated with obesity. A high-fat diet is associated higher abundance of both Firmicutes and Proteobacteria, and lower abundance of Bacteroidetes in mice.
- Increased levels of Firmicutes have been associated with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.
- Low abundance of Firmicutes and greater abundance of Akkermansia muciniphila have been reported in lean individuals.
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Acinetobacter junii, Actinobacteria, Actinomycetales, Adenovirus F40/41, Akkermansia muciniphila, Alistipes onderdonkii, Alistipes spp., Bacilli Class, Bacillus licheniformis, Bacteroides fragilis, Bacteroides pectinophilus, Bacteroides spp., Bacteroides spp. & Prevotella spp., Bacteroides stercoris, Bacteroides zoogleoformans, Bifidobacterium spp., Campylobacter (C. jejuni, C. coli and C. lari), Carbohydrates, Catenibacterium mitsuokai, Citrobacter farmeri / amalonaticus, Citrobacter freundii complex, Clostridia Class, Clostridioides difficile (Toxin A/B), Clostridium L2-50, Clostridium methylpentosum, Coprobacillus cateniformis, Cryptosporidium (C. parvum and C. hominis), Dialister invisus, Dialister invisus & Megasphaera micronuciformis, Dorea spp., Elastase, Entamoeba histolytica, Enterobacter cloacae complex, Enterobacteriaceae, Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) lt/st, Escherichia coli O157, Escherichia spp., Eubacterium biforme, Eubacterium hallii, Eubacterium rectale, Eubacterium siraeum, Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, Firmicutes, Giardia duodenalis (AKA intestinalis & lamblia), Klebsiella pneumoniae, Klebsiella pneumoniae/variicola, Lachnospiraceae, Lactobacillus family, Lactobacillus ruminis & Pediococcus acidilactici, Lactobacillus spp., Lactococcus garvieae, Mycoplasma hominis, Norovirus GI/GII, Parabacteroides johnsonii, Parabacteroides spp., Phascolarctobacterium spp., Proteobacteria, RBC, Rotavirus A, Rothia dentocariosa, Rothia mucilaginosa, Ruminococcus albus & R. bromii, Ruminococcus gnavus, Salmonella spp., Secretory IgA, Shiga-like toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) stx1/stx2, Shigella (S. boydii, S. sonnei, S. flexneri & S. dysenteriae), Streptococcus agalactiae & Eubacterium rectale, Streptococcus mutans, Streptococcus parasanguinis, Streptococcus salivarius, Streptococcus salivarius ssp., Streptococcus salivarius ssp. thermophilus, Streptococcus salivarius ssp. thermophilus & S. sanguinis, Streptococcus spp., Veillonella spp., Vibrio cholerae, Yeast