All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.
We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.
If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.
Allergic intestinal lesions
Medical expert of the article
Last reviewed: 04.07.2025
The damage to the small and large intestines can be an independent and the only manifestation or one of the components of the general allergic reaction of the body. Most often, entero- and colopathy occur with food and drug allergies, less often - with serum sickness, polyposis and other forms of general allergosis.
Reasons
The intestines can serve as entry points for the penetration of various exogenous allergens (food, chemical, medicinal, parasitic, etc.) into the body. Antibodies fixed in them can be observed in the intestinal wall, and antigens that have entered the body in various ways (inhalation, subcutaneous, intravenous) cause an immunological process, resulting in various functional lesions of the intestines. In other words, the intestines can be a "shock" organ in which an antigen-antibody reaction develops when the body is sensitized parenterally.
Causes of allergic intestinal damage
Symptoms
Patients experience acute cramping, less often aching dull pain throughout the abdomen, accompanied by rumbling, bloating and pouring, as well as imperative urges to defecate. Frequent loose stools appear, often with an admixture of undigested food or mucus, less often blood. Sometimes mucous films may be released (membranous colitis, mucous colic). Coproscopic examination reveals signs of accelerated intestinal motor function, impaired digestion, intestinal hypersecretion, sometimes eosinophilia and Charcot-Leyden crystals.
Symptoms of allergic intestinal damage
Diagnostics
If intestinal dysfunction occurs against the background of acute general allergic reactions, then it is easy to diagnose. Usually, difficulties arise in the absence of signs of general allergosis, especially if intestinal manifestations persist for several days or weeks or become chronic. The presence of general clinical signs of sensitization of the body (paroxysmal course, decreased blood pressure or angiospasms, urticaria, skin itching, Quincke's edema, rhinitis, conjunctivitis, bronchospasm, eosinophilia, leukopenia, hypergammaglobulinemia) helps diagnose the allergic nature of intestinal disease.
Diagnosis of allergic intestinal damage
Treatment. Diet, medications, physical factors, medicinal plants, mineral waters are recommended. Depending on the prevalence of clinical symptoms (abdominal pain, diarrhea, constipation), diet and pharmacotherapy are differentiated.
In case of constipation, the primary importance is given to an appropriate diet containing sufficient amount of plant fiber and other products that enhance peristalsis. Diet No. 3 according to Pevzner is usually prescribed.
[ What do need to examine?
What tests are needed?