Idiopathic enteropathy: an evaluation in rural Iran with an appraisal of nutrient loss.

Idiopathic enteropathy in the rural population of Iran was investigated through evaluation of 100 randomly selected apparently normal subjects. The evaluation included quantitation of the nutrient loss, presence of malabsorption, and small intestinal morphological abnormalities. The results show that: 1) there was no significant loss of major nutrients, 2) severe malabsorption was not present, 3) an enteropathy of unknown etiology was found in nearly one-third of the subjects, and 4) abnormalities in morphology did not necessarily mean presence of malabsorption.