Bacterial translocation after cold stress in young and old mice.

Spontaneous translocation of the normal intestinal flora was observed in higher rate in old mice being in a state of thymus involution than in young ones. The proportion of bacterial translocation 24 and 48 h after cold stress increased in both young and old mice, the increase of translocation as compared to controls was larger in case of young mice than in old ones. The distribution of isolated bacterial strains according to Gram stain also differed in young and old groups.