Use of morphometry and immunohistochemistry of small intestinal biopsy specimens in the diagnosis of food allergy.

Eight babies with cow's milk protein intolerance and malabsorption, ages ranging from 2 weeks to 6 months, and five adult patients with a history of food allergy were studied. In the jejunal biopsies of the eight children with cow's milk protein intolerance we found partial villous atrophy with an increased number of interepithelial lymphocytes as determined by morphometric analysis. In the five adult patients no morphological changes of the jejunal mucosa were found. However, immunoperoxidase staining revealed a markedly increased number of IgE containing cells in the lamina propria of all jejunal biopsies studied. This proved to be specific for young and adult patients with food allergy. It is concluded that immunohistochemistry of jejunal biopsy specimens is of considerable value in the diagnosis of food allergy.