tropical countries in the last two centuries. Characterised by profuse diarrhoea, steatorrhoea, abdominal distension, mouth ulcers and weight loss, it is a malabsorption syndrome the aetiology of which has never been conclusively identified. The phrase “A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma (Winston Churchill)” applies very aptly to tropical sprue. During the period of European colonia...

Incorporation of L-leucine-(14)C into proteins and immunoglobulins in vitro was determined in jejunal biopsy specimens from normal volunteers, patients with celiac sprue before and after introduction of gluten into the diet, patients with Whipple's disease in remission, and patients with immune deficiency states. Values for incorporation of L-leucine-(14)C into total and soluble protein by biop...

It is now recognized that abnormalities of small intestinal morphology and function in the tropics are found both in subjects with overt tropical sprue and in the asymptomatic indigenous population (Baker, Ignatius, Mathan, Vaish, and Chacko, 1962; Sprinz, Sribhibhadh, Gangarosa, Benyajati, Kundel, and Halstead, 1962; Lindenbaum, Alam, and Kent, 1966; Russell, Aziz, Ahmad, Kent, and Gangarosa, ...

It is now recognized that abnormalities of small intestinal morphology and function in the tropics are found both in subjects with overt tropical sprue and in the asymptomatic indigenous population (Baker, Ignatius, Mathan, Vaish, and Chacko, 1962; Sprinz, Sribhibhadh, Gangarosa, Benyajati, Kundel, and Halstead, 1962; Lindenbaum, Alam, and Kent, 1966; Russell, Aziz, Ahmad, Kent, and Gangarosa, ...