Alterations in the endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi complex of intestinal epithelial cells during fat absorption and after termination of this process: a morphological and morphometric study.

Earlier investigations of intestinal fat-absorption have stressed the importance of continued protein synthesis to provide membranes which are utilized for the intracellular transport of resynthesized lipid. The resulting membranes, when incorporated into the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and Golgi complex, serve as vehicles for the movement of fat within the cell and for its release to the extracellular space. In the current study, attention was focused on the morphological changes in the ER and Golgi complex both during fat absorption and at successive time intervals after fat-absorption termination. Morphological interpretations were confirmed by morphometric analysis. This investigation supports the interpretation that during fat absorption, membrane synthesis by the rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER) is insufficient to accomodate membrane utilization and intraconversion, resulting in a decrease of both ER and Golgi complex components. However, following fat-absorption termination, and cell is able to replace previously depleted components of the ER and Golgi complex and regain the full membrane complement of the fasted state. Replenishment of cellular membranes is postulated as resulting from a continued synthesis of new membranes by the RER which eventually exceeds membrane utilized during lipid transport.