Starvation induces the formation of giant mitochondria in gastric parietal cells of guinea pigs.

Mitochondria occasionally increase in size in response to metabolic injury. Numerous studies have reported giant mitochondria in patients with various diseases and animals with metabolic injuries, but there are few reports on giant mitochondria in normal cells under physiological conditions. Here, we report giant mitochondria in normal gastric parietal cells. Stomachs of guinea pigs fed freely, fasted or fasted and then injected with histamine were processed for electron microscopy. Giant mitochondria >2 microm in the diameter of their major axis were observed in resting-type parietal cells in the gastric glands of animals fasted for 60-72 h, whereas acid-secreting-type parietal cells found in those fed ad libitum did not contain giant mitochondria. Giant mitochondria showed unusual structures, especially in their cristae: they contained closely packed, tubular and concentric cristae as well as amorphous and pleomorphic inclusion bodies in their matrix. We observed giant mitochondria consisting of several segments, suggesting the fusion of several normal-sized mitochondria. Histamine injection decreased in a frequency of giant mitochondria in accordance with a decrease in a frequency of resting-type parietal cells. This is the first report of giant mitochondria in gastric parietal cells under physiological or near physiological conditions. Gastric parietal cells might be a good model for examining mitochondrial fusion and fission in a physiological state accompanied by the morphological change of the cells in the membrane system from an acid-secreting to resting type.