The intestinal upper villus epithelial cells represent the differentiated epithelial cells and play key role in digesting and absorbing lumenal nutrients. Weaning stress commonly results in a decrease in villus height and intestinal dysfunction in piglets. However, no study have been conducted to test the effects of weaning on the physiology and functions of upper villus epithelial cells. A tot...

Amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling are tests for the prenatal diagnosis of cytogenetic abnormalities. We calculated the incremental costs per abnormal birth averted, and the incremental costs per quality-adjusted outcome, of amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling performed for the indication of maternal age. Probabilities were obtained from the literature, and direct medical costs...

Chorionic villus sampling (CVS) is a test used for prenatal diagnosis [5]. Safe to perform at an earlier stage in pregnancy [6] than amniocentesis, CVS is another invasive prenatal diagnostic test that can be performed as early as ten weeks after the woman?s last menstrual cycle. While this test does carry some risks, it is generally very effective at predicting heritable diseases during or soo...

Female Wistar rats were weaned onto a diet deficient in riboflavin and compared with weight-matched and ad lib.-fed controls. The effects of riboflavin deficiency on villus morphometry and enterocyte number on the villi in the upper small intestine were studied. Riboflavin depletion was associated with increased villus length and a proportional increase in the number of cell positions along the...

In the small intestine, epithelial cells are derived from stem cells in the crypts, migrate up the villus as they differentiate and are ultimately shed from the villus tips. This process of proliferation and shedding is tightly regulated to maintain the intestinal architecture and tissue homeostasis. Apoptosis regulates both the number of stem cells in the crypts as well as the sloughing of cel...

The desaturation-elongation of [14C]linolenic acid (n-3) in the rat small intestine was examined in homogenates of villus and crypt cells in vitro and in mesenteric lymph duct cannulated rats in vivo, using high performance liquid chromatography of fatty acid methyl esters with continuous flow measurement of 14C. Desaturation-elongation of [14C]18:3 to [14C]18:4, [14C]20:4, and [14C]20:5 (n-3) ...

The apoptotic process in the normal gastrointestinal mucosa is of interest due to its possible role in physiological cell renewal. The aim of this study was to identify the apoptotic process in the monkey small intestine and the association of glutathione level and its efflux in this process. Monkey small intestinal epithelial cells were separated in to different fractions consisting of villus,...

All cells in the intestinal villus of the rat are capable of synthesizing protein from amino acid precursors (l-leucine). Moreover, polyribosomes from both crypts and villi are equally able to incorporate l-leucine into protein. Unlike other tissues, e.g. liver, there is no diurnal variation of protein synthesis in the intestine of the unfed rat, whether leucine is administered intraluminally o...

Cellular retinol-binding protein type II (CRBPII) is exclusively expressed in the small intestinal absorptive cells. We previously reported that dietary fat induces CRBPII expression within 12 h of fat intake. To examine at which locus of the villus-crypt axis this response to dietary fat occurs, 6-wk-old rats were fed a low-fat diet (7% energy) for 7 d, and then given free access to a high-fat...