Apoptotic enteropathy, gluten intolerance, and IBD-like inflammation associated with lipotoxicity in DGAT1 deficiency–related diarrhea: a case report of a 17-year-old patient and literature review

We present a long-term follow-up in a 17-year-old girl with DGAT1 -related diarrhea, an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by impaired triglyceride absorption. Neonatal presentation included severe congenital diarrhea, protein-losing enteropathy, and failure to thrive requiring total parenteral nutrition. Duodenal biopsies revealed apoptotic enteropathy and acute inflammation with the presence of macrophages and Touton giant cells, related to the intake of fat. She was able to switch to enteral nutrition on a fat-free diet. However, at age 10, she developed gluten-induced enteropathy and then IBD-like inflammation 5 years later. Immunohistochemistry was able to confirm the diagnosis, while DGAT1 sequencing remained inconclusive. This highlights the role of histopathology and immunohistochemistry, despite the increasing importance of genetic analysis in the diagnostic work-up. This report also illustrates that parenteral nutrition weaning is possible in DGAT1 -related diarrhea, but gut barrier dysfunction might increase the risk of autoimmune intestinal disease.