tropical countries in the last two centuries. Characterised by profuse diarrhoea, steatorrhoea, abdominal distension, mouth ulcers and weight loss, it is a malabsorption syndrome the aetiology of which has never been conclusively identified. The phrase “A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma (Winston Churchill)” applies very aptly to tropical sprue. During the period of European colonia...

Pteroylglutamic acid (PGA) absorption days. A statistically significant difference was assessed in ten untreated tropical in PGA absorption between TS and consprue (TS) and eight control subjects trol subjects was obtained only when gluutilizing a marker perfusion technique. cose was present in the perfusate. Thus, Physiologic concentrations of the vitamin unequivocal malabsorption of PGA is (2...

BACKGROUND Fructose malabsorption is characterized by the inability to absorb fructose efficiently. As a consequence fructose reaches the colon where it is broken down by bacteria to short fatty acids, CO2 and H2. Bloating, cramps, osmotic diarrhea and other symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome are the consequences and can be seen in about 50% of fructose malabsorbers. We have previously shown ...

Pteroylglutamic acid (PGA) absorption days. A statistically significant difference was assessed in ten untreated tropical in PGA absorption between TS and consprue (TS) and eight control subjects trol subjects was obtained only when gluutilizing a marker perfusion technique. cose was present in the perfusate. Thus, Physiologic concentrations of the vitamin unequivocal malabsorption of PGA is (2...

proved by the local ethics committee. Compared to the healthy controls, median concentrations of cholesten (interquartile range) in patients with ileal resection were significantly higher [87.8 g/L (range 42.1–150.5 g/L) vs 11.9 g/L (range 9.2–16.9 g/L), P 0.001, Mann–Whitney RankSum test]. This method retains the advantages of other HPLC-based methods, while eliminating the need for temperatur...

BACKGROUND The short bowel syndrome (SBS) is a condition caused by extensive intestinal resection for a variety of conditions. The etiology varies by age group. Necrotizing enterocolitis is the leading cause in infants. In older children, trauma and malignancies are most common. Postoperative SBS has become most common in adults, followed by mesenteric vascular disease and cancer/irradiation. ...

We read with interest the work by Jeppesen et al (1) examining the fatty acid content of plasma phospholipids in patients with malabsorption and patients receiving home parenteral nutrition (HPN). In that article, patients with fat malabsorption were subgrouped according to the severity of malabsorption (fat malabsorption ≤50% and fat malabsorption >50%), whereas patients receiving HPN were gro...