The measurement of mucosal non-myelinated nerve fibre area and endocrine cell area in coeliac disease using morphometric analysis.

A preliminary morphometric analysis of non-myelinated nerve fibres and endocrine cells in the mucosa of normal and coeliac jejunal biopsies has been performed at the ultrastructural level. Biopsies from 5 children with histologically normal mucosa and 5 children with coeliac disease have been analysed. The percentage of endocrine cells per unit of crypt epithelial area, the percentage nerve area per unit area of lamina propria and the lamina propria area per unit length of mucosa in the crypt base region has been measured in ultrathin sections. A significantly higher percentage of nerves could be demonstrated in the lamina propria of the crypt base region in coeliac biopsies compared to normal biopsies. The lamina propria area/mucosal length ratio was similar in normal and coeliac disease. The endocrine cell area as a percentage of the crypt epithelial area was also similar in both normal and coeliac biopsies. There was no correlation between the increase in nerve fibre area and the endocrine cell area in coeliac disease.