Small bowel morphology in British Indian and Afro-Caribbean subjects: evidence of tropical enteropathy
Article Abstract:
The microscopic structure of the lining of the small intestine in white Europeans and North Americans is well described. It has been reported that inhabitants of tropical countries manifest small bowel morphology that is different from the former two groups, and is similar in some respects to what might be considered pathological. Visitors from temperate countries who travel to tropical regions have been shown to undergo similar changes which regress when they return home; it is not known whether a similar phenomenon occurs in natives of tropical countries when they emigrate to temperate regions. To further investigate the relation between intestinal morphology and length of time away from the tropics, duodenal biopsy specimens were taken from 30 white, 35 Indian, and 20 Afro-Caribbean residents of West Birmingham (England) who were undergoing routine endoscopy for diminished appetite. Both Indian and Afro-Caribbean subjects were found to have significantly less finger-shaped intestinal villi (small protrusions into the lumen of the intestine that are important in absorption of fluids and nutrients). There were other quantitative differences between the whites and the other two groups as well; whites were found to have significantly thicker mucosa, villi with greater height, and several other microscopic differences. Among the Indian patients, the magnitude of these differences was directly proportional to the length of time since the last visit to the Indian subcontinent; hence, this morphologic variation may be environmentally determined. The long-term implication of these changes in gastrointestinal morphology is not clear. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
Publication Name: Gut
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0017-5749
Year: 1991
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Measurement of normal portal venous blood flow by Doppler ultrasound
Article Abstract:
Ultrasonography was used to measure the volume of blood flow in the portal vein, the major vein of the liver. Ultrasonography creates an image of structures in the body by recording the echoes or pulses of those structures. Measurement errors that tend to occur using this particular method, the duplex method, were evaluated. In order to investigate the effect of posture on blood flow in the portal vein, 45 healthy volunteers were studied in three different positions: standing, lying on the back with the face upwards (supine), and with a tilted head down at 20 degrees from the horizontal. No difference in blood flow was noted between the supine position and when tilted head down at 20 degrees from the horizontal. However, the average volume of blood flow dropped by 26 percent when the subject was standing.
Publication Name: Gut
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0017-5749
Year: 1989
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