Tritiated thymidine radioautographic study on the origin and renewal of secretin cells in the rat duodenum.

The origin and renewal of secretin cells in the duodenum were investigated using the unlabeled antibody peroxidase-antiperoxidase technique and radioautography in rats killed at various times after single or multiple injections of [3H]thymidine. Secretin cells were spatially distributed from the upper crypt to the villus tip, being particularly numerous in the upper two-thirds of the duodenal villi. After a single injection of [3H]thymidine, there were no labeled secretin cells, indicating a lack of self-replicating activity. After repeated injections of the isotope, labeled secretin cells appeared and increased in number. They first occurred at the upper part of the crypt and the lower part of the villus, and later at the villus tip. All these cells were found to be labeled after continuous labeling for 120 h, which is considered to be the renewal time for this cell population.