Koch's postulates, microbial dysbiosis and inflammatory bowel disease V.P. Singh, S.D. Proctor, B.P. Willing  Clinical Microbiology and Infection  Volume 22, Issue 7, Pages 594-599 (July 2016) DOI: 10.1016/j.cmi.2016.04.018 Copyright © 2016 European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Terms and Conditions

Fig. 1 Koch's postulates for microbial dysbiosis and inflammatory bowel disease. We propose that the Koch's postulates can be fulfilled with some modifications to the criteria. First is the need to expand the definition from the presence of single organism in all cases to the presence of several possible pathobionts or dysbiosis in all patients. A modification of Koch's second postulate requires acceptance of molecular microbial characterization of dysbiosis in place of the isolation of the organism. Koch's third postulate also needs to allow for the introduction of several possible single organisms or a dysbiotic community. Finally, while reisolation of inoculated pathobiont from newly infected patients is possible in some cases, others require recharacterization of the dysbiotic community by molecular methods. Clinical Microbiology and Infection 2016 22, 594-599DOI: (10.1016/j.cmi.2016.04.018) Copyright © 2016 European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Terms and Conditions