AIM: To study the changes of cell proliferation and apoptosis in rat jejunal epithelium at different ages. METHODS: Cell proliferation and apoptosis of the jejunal mucosal and glandulous epithelia from birth to postnatal 12th month were observed using immunocytochemistry (ICC), and TUNEL method. The height of villus, the thickness of muscle layer and the number of goblet cells in jejunal mucosal and glandulous epithelia were measured by BeiHang analytic software and analyzed by STAT. RESULTS: (1) Proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) positive cells of jejunal glandulous recess were found and increased in number from birth to the postnatal 3rd month. The number of PCNA positive cells peaked in the postnatal 3rd month, and decreased from then on. (2) The number of apoptotic cells also peaked in the postnatal 3rd month, showing a similar trend to that of the PCNA positive cells. (3) The height of jejunal villus increased after birth, peaked in the postnatal 3rd month and decreased from then on. The jejunal muscle layer became thicker in the postnatal 3rd week and the postnatal 12th month. The number of goblet cells of the jejunal mucosal and glandulous epithelia had a linear correlation with age. CONCLUSION: (1) PCNA positive cells are distributed in the jejunal glandulous recess. (2) Apoptotic cell number peaks in the postnatal 3rd month, indicating that cell proliferation and apoptosis are developed with the formation of digestive metabolism as rat grows to maturity. (3) The thickness of jejunal muscle layer increases to a maximum in the postnatal 3rd week, which may be related to the change in diet from milk to solid food. (4) The number of goblet cells increases rapidly in the postnatal 3rd week, probably due to ingestion of solid food.