Labelling indices after 3H-thymidine incorporation during organ culture of duodenal mucosa in coeliac disease.

Incorporation of 3H-thymidine during organ culture of duodenal biopsy specimens from 34 coeliac and 10 non-coeliac patients was studied by autoradiography. High labelling indices were found in flat, coeliac mucosas. Gluten fractions, which provoked histological deterioration during culture, induced labelling of a greater proportion of crypt cells and higher migration rate than parallelly cultured specimens on gluten-free medium. No influences on crypt cell kinetics could be observed after culture with gluten fractions incapable of producing histological damage or with alpha-lactalbumin. In coeliac remission mucosas, labelling indices were at the same level as in non-coeliac biopsies, and no significant effects of gluten were observed. Autoradiography seems to be a fairly sensitive and reliable determinant of gluten toxicity by organ culture in coeliac disease and should supplement the histological appraisal of the biopsies. The increment of labelling indices provoked by gluten exposure seemed not merely to be a consequence of increased desquamation of cells from the biopsy surface but could imply a direct influence of gluten on crypt cell kinetics in coeliac disease.