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The Prevalence, Metabolism and Migration of Goblet Cells in Rat Intestine following the Induction of Rapid, Synchronous Vitamin A Deficiency^1,2,

Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Rama VI Road, Bangkok 4, Thailand

Experiments were conducted to evaluate critically the role of vitamin A in the maintenance and functional integrity of mucus-secreting goblet cells in rat small intestine. Essentially synchronous vitamin A deficiency was induced by the withdrawal of retinoic acid from mature, stringently-deficient male rats reared by feeding vitamin A-depleted weanlings diets first supplemented with and then lacking in 2 µg retinoic acid per gram diet in repeating 18 day:10 day cycles. Secondary inanition was minimized by force-feeding both deficient and control animals twice daily. Whereas the prevalence of oligomucus cells was unchanged, the number of goblet cells per duodenal crypt gland decreased abruptly to 60% of control values starting 2 to 3 days after the withdrawal of retinoic acid and then stabilized. The responses of mucus-secreting cells to atropine and pilocarpine were identical in vitamin A deficient and control animals. As studied with [³H]thymidine, the rate of division of epithelial cells and the migration rate of columnar and goblet cells out of the crypt gland and along the villus were also unaffected by vitamin A deficiency. We conclude that two populations of goblet cells exist in the intestine—one relatively insensitive and the other sensitive to vitamin A status. In vitamin A deficiency, the rate of differentiation of sensitive goblet cells from oligomucus cells and other precursor cells seems to be blocked.

KEY WORDS: • retinoic acid • synchronous vitamin A deficiency • rat intestinal goblet cells • intestinal cell migration rates

¹ Supported in part by U.S. National Institutes of Health Grant No. NIH-AM-11367 and the Faculty of Graduate Studies, Mahidol University.

² Taken in part from a thesis submitted by Ms. Wannee Rojanapo to the Faculty of Graduate Studies, Mahidol University in partial fulfillment of the requirement for a Ph.D. degree.

³ Present address: Research Division, National Cancer Institute, Ministry of Public Health, Rama VI Rd., Bangkok 4, Thailand.

⁴ To whom reprint requests should be sent.

⁵ Present address: Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, U.S.A.

Manuscript received 29 May 1979.