Merck Manual

Please confirm that you are a health care professional

honeypot link

Tropical Sprue

By

Zubair Malik

, MD, Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University

Reviewed/Revised Mar 2023
View PATIENT EDUCATION

Tropical sprue is a rare acquired disease, probably of infectious etiology, characterized by malabsorption and megaloblastic anemia. Diagnosis is clinical and by small-bowel biopsy. Treatment is with tetracycline and folate for 6 months.

Etiology of Tropical Sprue

Tropical sprue occurs chiefly in the Caribbean, southern India, and Southeast Asia, affecting both natives and visitors. The illness is rare in visitors spending < 1 month in areas where the disease is endemic.

Although etiology is unclear, tropical sprue is thought to result from chronic infection of the small bowel by toxigenic strains of coliform bacteria. Malabsorption of folate and vitamin B12 deficiency results in megaloblastic anemia Megaloblastic Macrocytic Anemias Megaloblastic anemias result most often from deficiencies of vitamin B12 and folate. Ineffective hematopoiesis affects all cell lines but particularly red blood cells. Diagnosis is usually based... read more Megaloblastic Macrocytic Anemias .

Tropical sprue has rarely been reported in the United States, and the incidence worldwide has been decreasing in recent decades, perhaps because of increasing use of antibiotics for acute traveler’s diarrhea Traveler’s Diarrhea Traveler’s diarrhea is gastroenteritis that is usually caused by bacteria endemic to local water. Symptoms include vomiting and diarrhea. Diagnosis is mainly clinical. Treatment is with replacement... read more .

Symptoms and Signs of Tropical Sprue

Patients commonly have acute diarrhea with fever and malaise. A chronic phase of milder diarrhea, nausea, anorexia, abdominal cramps, and fatigue follows. Steatorrhea (foul-smelling, pale, bulky, and greasy stools) is common.

The patient may also have weight loss, glossitis, stomatitis, and peripheral edema.

Diagnosis of Tropical Sprue

  • Endoscopy with small-bowel biopsy

  • Blood tests to screen for consequences of malabsorption

Tropical sprue is suspected in people who live in or have visited areas where the disease is endemic and who have megaloblastic anemia and symptoms of malabsorption.

The test of choice is upper gastrointestinal endoscopy with small-bowel biopsy. Characteristic histologic changes (see table ) usually involve the entire small bowel and include blunting of the villi with infiltration of chronic inflammatory cells in the epithelium and lamina propria. Celiac disease Celiac Disease Celiac disease is an immunologically mediated disease in genetically susceptible people caused by intolerance to gluten, resulting in mucosal inflammation and villous atrophy, which causes malabsorption... read more Celiac Disease and parasitic infection Approach to Parasitic Infections Human parasites are organisms that live on or in a person and derive nutrients from that person (its host). There are 3 types of parasites: Single-cell organisms (protozoa, microsporidia) Multicellular... read more must be ruled out. Unlike in celiac disease, anti-tissue transglutaminase antibody (tTG) and anti-endomysial antibody (EMA) are negative in patients with tropical sprue.

Additional laboratory studies (eg, complete blood count; albumin; calcium; prothrombin time; iron, folate, and B12 levels) help evaluate nutritional status. Barium small-bowel follow-through may show segmentation of the barium, dilation of the lumen, and thickening of the mucosal folds. D-xylose absorption is abnormal in > 90% of cases. However, these tests are not specific or essential for diagnosis of tropical sprue.

Treatment of Tropical Sprue

  • Long-term tetracycline

Treatment of tropical sprue is tetracycline 250 mg orally 4 times a day for 1 or 2 months, then 3 times a day for up to 6 months, depending on disease severity and response to treatment. Doxycycline 100 mg orally 2 times a day can be used instead of tetracycline.

Folate 5 to 10 mg orally once/day should be given for the first month along with vitamin B12 1 mg IM weekly for several weeks. Megaloblastic anemia promptly abates, and the clinical response is dramatic.

Other nutritional replacements are given as needed.

Relapse may occur in 20% of people. Failure to respond after 4 weeks of therapy suggests another condition.

Drugs Mentioned In This Article

Drug Name Select Trade
Emtet-500, Panmycin, Sumycin
Albuked , Albumarc, Albuminar, Albuminex, AlbuRx , Albutein, Buminate, Flexbumin, Kedbumin, Macrotec, Plasbumin, Plasbumin-20
Acticlate, Adoxa, Adoxa Pak, Avidoxy, Doryx, Doxal, Doxy 100, LYMEPAK, Mondoxyne NL, Monodox, Morgidox 1x, Morgidox 1x Kit, Morgidox 2x , Morgidox 2x Kit, Okebo, Oracea, Oraxyl, Periostat, TARGADOX, Vibramycin, Vibra-Tabs
View PATIENT EDUCATION
NOTE: This is the Professional Version. CONSUMERS: View Consumer Version
quiz link

Test your knowledge

Take a Quiz! 
iOS ANDROID
iOS ANDROID
iOS ANDROID
TOP