Cholerheic Enteropathy as a Cause of Diarrhea and Death in Radiation Enteritis and Its Prevention with Cholestyramine

Abstract

Cholerheic enteropathy, a syndrome of diarrhea due to the effects of excessive bile salts in the colon, occurs when bile salt absorption from the terminal ileum is impaired. Cholestyramine, a nonabsorbable anion-exchange resin, prevents diarrhea by binding the bile salts, thus rendering them inactive. Evidence that cholerheic enteropathy has a significant role in the pathogenesis of diarrhea and death from radiation enteritis is reviewed, and experiments with rats treated with cholestyramine prior to abdominal irradiation are described.