Effects of pancreatic duct ligation on the hamster intestinal mucosa. Histological findings.

After pancreatic duct ligation good correlations were observed between degenerative signs of the exocrine pancreas and ultrastructural changes of intestinal epithelial cells: hypertrophy of Paneth and goblet cells; hyperplasia of Paneth cells, mucous cells and 'intermediate granular cells' after the 10th day. On the 7th day, the absorbing area of the intestine (villi area and microvilli area) decrease significantly. These cytological changes partially disappear after the 15th day concomitant to a partial regeneration of the exocrine pancreas. These findings suggest correlations between the epithelial cells of the small intestine and exocrine pancreatic secretion. Different possibilities (direct action of the pancreatic juice or indirect mechanisms) are discussed and proposed to explain the morphological variations of the intestinal mucosa after pancreatic duct ligation.