The inability to absorb nutrients normally from the small intestine.
Keywords: tropical sprue; tropics; small intestine
Sprue and Intestinal Malabsorption in Tropical Climates
Gordon C Cook, The Wellcome Trust Institute, London, UK
Published online: June 2001
DOI: 10.1038/npg.els.0002135
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Figure 1. World map showing areas where PIM has been reliably demonstrated. Boxes mark the three locations in Africa where limited observations have documented the disease.
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Figure 2. The vicious cycle leading to the fully developed PIM syndrome. When tetracycline is given to eliminate the bacterial flora at (a), and folic acid is given to hasten enterocyte recovery at (b), the cycle is broken and clinical recovery ensues.
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Figure 3. Two individuals, investigated and treated in London, suffering from severe PIM.
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Figure 4. Jejunal morphology in two cases of PIM investigated and treated in London. Although there is villous ‘blunting’, a ‘flat’ jejunal mucosa is very unusual.
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| References | |
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| Further Reading | |
| Cook GC (1997) ‘Tropical sprue’: Some early investigators favoured an infective cause, but was a coccidian protozoan involved? Gut 40: 428–429. | |
| book Cook GC (1997) "History of tropical sprue and coeliac disease". In: Bynum WF Gastroenterology in Britain: Historical Essays, pp. 63–80. London: Wellcome Trust | |
| Ramakrishna BS and Mathan VI (1982) Water and electrolyte absorption by the colon in tropical sprue. Gut 23: 843–846. | |
| book Twining W (1832) Clinical Illustrations of the More Important Diseases of Bengal, pp. 705. Calcutta: Baptist Mission Press. | |
