Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0024523 (malabsorption)
 7,319 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Since the discovery of vitamins, there has been an increasing interest at relating vitamins with particular diseases. In particular, for vitamin A its singular importance has been determined in multiple vital functions, and its relationship with diseases, both in deficit and in excess, is nowadays completely demonstrated. In developed countries, vitamin deficiency-related diseases have been greatly reduced; however, in some patients with particular features they must be kept in mind. This is the case of a 45 year-old man, with a history of chronic alcoholism, non insulin-dependent diabetes meIlitus and cholecystectomy with a high biliary drainage secondary to emphysematous cholecystitis and perivesicular abscess. He complains of bilateral ocular pain, photophobia, and decreased visual acuity besides a history of pasty, sticky and foul-smelling feces. He is admitted in the Ophthalmology Department and bilateral corneal ulceration is diagnosed. A consultation to the Nutrition Department is made because of cachexia. Severe caloric and mil protein hyponutrition is observed with a BMI of 18.2 and a 23% weight loss for the last 6 months, fat-soluble vitamins (A, D and E) deficit, mild fat malabsorption, and macrocytic and hypochromic anemia. The patient's diet is supplemented with a special hyperproteinic and hypercaloric diet for diabetics, deficient vitamins and pancreatic enzymes to improve absorption are administered, and glycemia is controlled with insulin. Four months later, the patient is assessed and has a BMI of 20, anemia has resolved and from an ophthalmologic viewpoint the course is favorable, the ulcers improve and visual acuity is almost completely recovered. In chronic alcoholic patients with a low dietary intake and clinical complications with nutritional repercussions (pancreatitis that produces malabsorption or cholecystectomy with biliary percutaneous drainage) we should not forget that micronutrients deficits may explain the etiology of other associated diseases, in the present case corneal ulceration.
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PMID:[Bilateral corneal ulceration as a result of caloric-protein malnutrition and vitamin A deficit in a patient with chronic alcoholism, chronic pancreatitis and cholecystostomy]. 1604 34

We present a case of a 33-year-old man, who had a past history of a total pancreatectomy for duodenal malignant lymphoma complicated by life-threatening bleeding during chemotherapy at 23 years of age. He achieved complete remission and received no more chemotherapy. Around August 1999 he developed anemia, which failed to improve following intravenous administration of iron, and he was hospitalized. The cause of the anemia remained unclear and he received a blood transfusion. Because of the increasing frequency of transfusions, he was admitted to our hospital to evaluate his anemia in September 2000. On examinations, laboratory findings revealed a low level of serum vitamin B6 (B6) with iron deficiency. Intravenous administration of B6 was performed in addition to iron, with the result that the patient's hemoglobin level was kept at 10 g/dl without blood transfusion. An oral B6 administration test resulted in a low level of B6. These results suggest that B6 deficiency due to malabsorption may cause therapy-resistant anemia. Some reports say that B6 deficiency causes microcytic hypochromic anemia, since B6 is necessary for erythrocytic hemopoiesis as a coenzyme for heme biosynthesis. In the case of microcytic hypochromic anemia, if the cause is unclear, evaluation should be performed, taking the possibility of a hidden cause of B6 deficiency into consideration.
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PMID:[Therapy-resistant microcytic hypochromic anemia from malabsorption-related vitamin B6 deficiency after a gastrointestinal operation]. 1644 Jul 62