RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Quantitation of intraepithelial lymphocytes in human jejunum
JF Gut
JO Gut
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and British Society of Gastroenterology
SP 988
OP 994
DO 10.1136/gut.12.12.988
VO 12
IS 12
A1 Anne Ferguson
A1 D. Murray
YR 1971
UL http://gut.bmj.com/content/12/12/988.abstract
AB An estimate of the number of intraepithelial lymphocytes in jejunal villous epithelium can be obtained by differential counting of nuclei in the epithelium. From counts carried out in 160 jejunal biopsies from patients who did not have coeliac disease the normal range has been established as 6-40 intraepithelial lymphocytes per 100 villous epithelial cells. In some biopsies there was a moderate increase in the intraepithelial lymphocyte count; this was probably an objective measurement of `increased chronic inflammatory cell infiltrate'. Intraepithelial lymphocyte counts were high in untreated coeliac disease; counts were lower, but rarely within the normal range, in coeliac patients on a gluten-free diet. Counts were normal in most autoimmune diseases, ulcerative colitis, and Crohn's disease. There were abnormal intraepithelial lymphocyte counts in four patients, with otherwise normal jejunal histology, in whom no cause had been found to explain prolonged and incapacitating gastrointestinal symptoms.