Amer Bushra, Khozaig Waleed H, Alhadad Monia T, Abdelrahman Nadir
Department of Family Medicine, Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, East Lansing, USA.
Department of Gastroenterology, Prince Mohammed Bin Abdulaziz Hospital, Riyadh, SAU.
Cureus. 2023 Jul 27;15(7):e42538. doi: 10.7759/cureus.42538. eCollection 2023 Jul.
Autoimmune enteropathy (AIE) is a differential diagnosis of incurable chronic diarrhea, malnutrition, and weight loss. This type of diarrhea is associated with protein enteropathy that usually affects the small intestine. The diagnosis of AIE is based on chronic diarrhea, malabsorption, specific histological result, antibodies against enterocytes, and excluding similar conditions. In this case, a 28-year-old female presented with diarrhea, lower limb edema, weight loss, and electrolyte imbalances. Endoscopic examination demonstrated duodenal villous atrophy, while duodenal biopsies revealed villous blunting, scattered intraepithelial lymphocytes, and crypt hyperplasia in the lamina propria. The patient was treated with immunosuppressive treatment including methylprednisolone and azathioprine, achieving clinical remission.
自身免疫性肠病（AIE）是一种难以治愈的慢性腹泻、营养不良和体重减轻的鉴别诊断疾病。这种类型的腹泻与通常影响小肠的蛋白质肠病有关。AIE的诊断基于慢性腹泻、吸收不良、特定的组织学结果、抗肠上皮细胞抗体以及排除类似病症。在本病例中，一名28岁女性出现腹泻、下肢水肿、体重减轻和电解质失衡。内镜检查显示十二指肠绒毛萎缩，而十二指肠活检显示绒毛变钝、固有层散在的上皮内淋巴细胞以及隐窝增生。该患者接受了包括甲泼尼龙和硫唑嘌呤在内的免疫抑制治疗，实现了临床缓解。
