Factors influencing villus size in the small intestine of adult rats as revealed by transposition of intestinal segments

Abstract

Abstract As an index of villus size, the number of epithelial cells per representative villus section was counted in longitudinal sections of the rat small intestine. Villus size was found to decrease gradually along the length of the small intestine, with villi being nearly three times as large in upper duodcnum as in terminal ileum. The influence of various surgical operations on villus size was then examined. In ileal segments inserted into the jejunum, villi enlarged to the size of local jejunal villi. In jejunal segments inserted into the ileum, villi decreased almost to the size of local ileal villi. Thus, villus size was influenced by the environment, that is, most probably by the different types of chyme in jejunum and ileum. In duodenal segments inserted into the ileum, villi did not decrease in size, and distally located ileal villi enlarged. This and other experiments indicated that the duodenum produced secretions which not only neutralized the villus‐reducing effect of the ileal environment, but also exerted a potent villus‐enlarging effect. Pyloric secretions had a similar villus‐enlarging effect. Segments of intestine were made into blind sacs by closing their proximal end and joining their distal end to the colon, so as to remove the influence of the chyme. Villus size decreased in sacs of jejunum and lower duodenum (without the duodenal papilla), but increased in sacs of ileum. Thus in the three types of sacs, there was a tendency for villi to acquire an intermediate size. In conclusion, an intermediate villus size, which is postulated to exist in chyme‐free, non‐functional intestine, would normally be modified by two types of factors: villusenlarging factors present mainly in pyloric and duodenal secretions, and villus‐reducting factors present in the ileal chyme. Interaction between these factors would result in the gradient of villus size along the small intestine.