Haghighi P, Wolf P L
Laboratory Service, University of California, USA.
Crit Rev Clin Lab Sci. 1997;34(4):313-41. doi: 10.3109/10408369708998096.
Aside from infectious intestinal diseases with known etiology, there is a group of gastrointestinal disorders mainly affecting the small intestine of individuals predominantly living in and less often visiting or returning from the Third World, usually the tropics, and ranging from asymptomatic structural and/or functional abnormalities of the gastrointestinal mucosa (subclinical enteropathy, SE) to a fully symptomatic condition highlighted by malabsorption of nutrients with associated nutritional deficiencies responsive to folate and broad spectrum antibiotic treatment (tropical sprue, TS). Mounting evidence supports an infectious cause in many instances. The exact nature of the infection, whether initiated and/or perpetuated by enterotoxigenic coliform bacteria, virus(es) or a combination of these, is not clear. Further studies, including those using molecular techniques, are needed in order to clarify various aspects of these widely prevalent disorders.
除了已知病因的感染性肠道疾病外，还有一组胃肠道疾病，主要影响主要生活在第三世界（通常是热带地区）、较少前往或刚从第三世界返回的个体的小肠，范围从胃肠道黏膜无症状的结构和/或功能异常（亚临床肠病，SE）到以营养吸收不良并伴有对叶酸和广谱抗生素治疗有反应的营养缺乏为突出表现的完全有症状的疾病（热带口炎性腹泻，TS）。越来越多的证据支持在许多情况下存在感染性病因。感染的确切性质，无论是由产肠毒素的大肠菌、病毒或两者的组合引发和/或持续存在，尚不清楚。需要进一步的研究，包括使用分子技术的研究，以阐明这些广泛流行疾病的各个方面。
