Editing Tropical sprue (section)

==Cause==
The cause of tropical sprue is not known.<ref name="pmid17148698"/>  It may be caused by persistent bacterial, viral, amoebal, or [[parasitic infection]]s.<ref name="pmid9135537">{{cite journal |vauthors=Cook GC |title='Tropical sprue': some early investigators favoured an infective cause, but was a coccidian protozoan involved? |journal=Gut |volume=40 |issue=3 |pages=428–9 |year=1997 |pmid=9135537 |pmc=1027098 |doi= 10.1136/gut.40.3.428}}</ref>  [[Folic acid deficiency]], effects of malabsorbed fat on [[intestinal motility]], and persistent [[small intestinal bacterial overgrowth]] may combine to cause the disorder.<ref name="pmid6143049">{{cite journal |vauthors=Cook GC |title=Aetiology and pathogenesis of postinfective tropical malabsorption (tropical sprue) |journal=Lancet |volume=1 |issue=8379 |pages=721–3 |year=1984 |pmid=6143049 |doi= 10.1016/s0140-6736(84)92231-1|s2cid=41146323 }}</ref> A link between [[small intestinal bacterial overgrowth]] and tropical sprue has been proposed to be involved in the etiology of post-infectious [[irritable bowel syndrome]] (IBS).<ref name="pmid28513629">{{cite journal |vauthors=Ghoshal UC, Gwee KA |title=Post-infectious IBS, tropical sprue and small intestinal bacterial overgrowth: the missing link |journal=Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol |volume=14 |issue=7 |pages=435–441 |year=2017 |pmid=28513629 |doi=10.1038/nrgastro.2017.37 |s2cid=33660302 }}</ref> Intestinal immunologic dysfunction, including deficiencies in secretory immunoglobulin A (IgA), may predispose people to malabsorption and bacterial colonization, so tropical sprue may be triggered in susceptible individuals following an acute enteric infection.<ref name="Wanke2015" />