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The intraepithelial lymphocytes of the jejunal mucosa from patients with giardiasis and from control patients were counted in coded serial sections. Patients with giardiasis and normal intestinal absorption and control patients who had lived and travelled in tropical areas had similar counts, which were higher than those reported for controls from temperate areas. Where giardiasis was accompanied by malabsorption of one substance the mean count was significantly higher than that of controls (P < 0.02). In those patients with giardiasis and malabsorption of two or three substances the mean count was significantly higher than that of controls (P < 0.02) and that of patients with giardiasis and normal absorption (P < 0.05). After treatment, intraepithelial lymphocyte counts declined consistently in patients with malabsorption. An association between raised intraepithelial lymphocyte counts and malabsorption is indicated. The possible significance of this finding is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Weibel graticule was used to assess quantitatively histological changes in proximal jejunal mucosal biopsies from patients with Giardia lamblia infections. Most had malabsorption. A group of patients who had mild abdominal symptoms but no intestinal infection and normal absorption were the controls. There were significant differences in mean surface area (SA) measurements between patients with giardiasis and severe malabsorption and controls (P less than 0.001) and infected patients with normal absorption (P less than 0.05). SA measurements correlated significantly with D-xylose excretion results (r = 0.55; P less than 0.01) and daily facal fat output (r = -0.61; P less than 0.001). Significant correlations between duration of symptoms and SA measurements (r = 0.43; P less than 0.05) and D-xylose excretion (r = 0.43; P less than 0.05) in giardiasis suggest that histological and functional impairment are maximal soon after infection and resolve in time. Treatment with metronidazole or mepacrine was associated with a significant increase in SA (P less than 0.05) in patients with severe malabsorption but there was little change in SA in a similar group of patients who received tetracycline. The Weibel graticule was found to be useful in assessing the severity of histological changes and in following changes after treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Malabsorption was present in 29 of 40 symptomatic patients with giardiasis. Twenty-three had impaired D-xylose absorption; in 20 vitamin B12 absorption was low, and 15 patients had steatorrhoea. More severe malabsorption was associated with more marked histological abnormalities. Metronidazole, 2-0 g as a single daily dose on three successive days, produced a parasitological cure rate of 91%. In contrast, the standard course of mepacrine, 100 mg thrice daily for 10 days, eradicated the parasite in only 63% of patients. Improvements in absorption and jejunal morphology followed anti-giardial treatment. Tetracycline in eight patients failed to eradicate the parasite, intestinal absorption was unaltered, and histological appearances of the jejunal mucosa often deteriorated. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article discusses the association of intestinal dysfunction and inflammatory changes in the small intestine or tropical enteritis in other diseases. One important viral enteritis in the tropics is that associated with severe measles. Though clinical evidence of measles is obtained from examination of the skin and mucous membranes of the mouth, the gastrointestinal tract may be involved with the same pathological process producing inflammation.

We have reviewed the clinical presentation of 100 consecutive culture positive cases of brucellosis which came under our care during the last two years. Of these, six had atypical presentations and but for the routine practice of sending blood for brucella culture, the diagnosis would have been missed. The unusual presentations included a 19 year old boy presenting as an acute abdomen ending in laparotomy, a 52 year old man presenting with a psoas abscess, a 29 year old woman presenting with a transient perinephric mass, a 75 year old man with an acute flare up of his osteoarthritis, a 65 year old diabetic man presenting in an insulin-resistant diabetic state and a 35 year old man presenting with a cauda equina syndrome. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]