Disease Information for Protein losing enteropathy

Patients with protein-losing enteropathy due to lymphatic obstruction, however, lose not only albumin and other plasma proteins but also intestinal lymph, with loss of long-chain triglycerides, fat-soluble vitamins and small lymphocytes; Protein-losing enteropathy is considered in patients who exhibit hypoproteinemia and in whom other causes for hypoproteinemia (eg, proteinuria, protein malnutrition and liver disease) are excluded; Fecal protein loss can then be quantitated using 51Cr-labeled albumin or a1-antitrypsin clearance into stool; Enteric protein loss in patients with intestinal lymphangiectasia usually decreases with a low-fat diet; The normal absorption of long-chain triglycerides stimulates intestinal lymph flow; in their absence there is a decrease in the pressure within intestinal lymphatic vessels and hence a diminished loss of lymph into the lumen; Medium-chain triglycerides, which do not require intestinal lymphatic transport, can be substituted for the long-chain triglycerides and further decrease intestinal lymphatic pressure, with subsequent reduction in enteric lymph and protein loss --------------[First principles of gastroenteroplogy website 2005 Thomson and Shaffer ]

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