title: Environmental enteropathy and malnutrition: do we know enough to intervene?
abstract: Environmental enteropathy (EE) is a poorly defined state of intestinal inflammation without overt diarrhea that occurs in individuals exposed over time to poor sanitation and hygiene. It is implicated as a cause of stunting and malnutrition, oral vaccine failure and impaired development in children from low-income countries. The burden on child health of malnutrition alone, which affects 25% of all children and is estimated to result in more than a million deaths annually due to heightened susceptibility to infection, makes urgent a solution to EE. Efforts are thus underway to treat EE even while work continues to identify it through the use of non-invasive biomarkers, and delineate its pathogenesis. A recent study published in BMC Medicine reports the first randomized controlled phase I trial of an anti-inflammatory drug for EE. The aminosalicylate mesalazine was found to be safe in short-term treatment of a small number of severely malnourished children, although efficacy was not established. Whether such treatment trials are premature, or instead a way both to understand and intervene in EE, is the focus of this article. Please see related article: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7015/12/133.
authors.affiliation: Division of Infectious Diseases & International Health, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, 22908-1340, USA. wap3g@cms.mail.virginia.edu.
authors.forename: William A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Petri
authors.affiliation: Division of Infectious Diseases & International Health, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, 22908-1340, USA. cgn5q@virginia.edu.
authors.forename: Caitlin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Naylor
authors.affiliation: icddr,b, GPO Box 128, Mohakhali, Dhaka, 1000, Bangladesh. rhaque@icddrb.org.
authors.forename: Rashidul
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Haque
mesh_terms: D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015212:Inflammatory Bowel Diseases; D008297:Male; D044342:Malnutrition / Q000188:drug therapy*; D019804:Mesalamine / Q000008:administration & dosage*
chemical_list: D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; D019804:Mesalamine