Major gastrointestinal manifestations in lupus patients in Asia: lupus enteritis, intestinal pseudo-obstruction, and protein-losing gastroenteropathy

Abstract

Gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms are common in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and may be due to the disease itself, side-effects of medications, or non-SLE causes. However, GI manifestations of lupus attract far less attention than the other major organ involvements, are infrequently reviewed and rarely documented in published lupus databases or cohort studies including those from countries in Asia. According to three reports from two countries in Asia, the cumulative prevalence of SLE GI manifestations range from 3.8% to 18%. In this review, we focus on three major GI manifestations in patients from Asian countries: lupus enteritis, intestinal pseudo-obstruction, and protein-losing gastroenteropathy, for which early recognition improves outcome and reduces morbidity and mortality.