RESUMO
The study of small bowel mucosa is routine in the study of patients with malabsorption. We report 16 children aged from 8 months to 6 years old (2 with giardiasis, 8 with primary malnutrition and 5 with celiac diasease) in whom a morphometric and PCNA immunostaining was performed in the small intestinal biopsy. Positively for PCNA was found in the lower portion of the crypts reaching 156 µm of heigh in patients with giardiasis, 103 µm in primary malnutrition and 182 µm in celiac dosease (p<0.01 compared to primary malnutrition). A negative and significant correlation was found between the degree of architectural disorder (expressed the mucosal index) and the proliferative portion of the crypts (expressed as the percentage of PCNA(+) crypts. We propose these methods as complements to the small bowel mucosa histopathological study in the diagnosis of celiac disease, to assess the degree of architectural disorder and the proliferative activity