ABSTRACT. The spatial relationship between the distribution of indigenous bacteria (IB) and the situation of mucosal lymphatic follicles (LF) is histoplanimetrically studied in the rat alimentary tract. From the oral cavity to the nonglandular part of the stomach, IB adhered to the corneal layer of the most luminal mucosa. In the glandular part of the stomach, IB adhered only to the most luminal mucosa but not in the gastric pits. In the small intestine, IB consistently adhered around the apices of both intestinal villi and the domes, and their amounts decreased toward their basal portions. No IB entered the intestinal crypts. In the large intestine, IB consistently adhered to the most luminal mucosa. Numerous IB were suspended in the intestinal crypts of both the cecum and the proximal colon, whereas there were no IB in the crypts of the distal colon and the rectum. When IB spread over the basal portions of the intestinal villi, IB with the same morphology were detected on the neighboring LF, whereas no bacteria were detected on the neighboring LF, when IB were located in the apical to middle portions of the intestinal villi. This close relationship between the distribution of IB and mucosal LF was also observed in the large intestine. These results suggest that the most luminal mucosae are a fundamental settlement site of IB throughout the alimentary tract and that the hyperproliferation of IB's colonies might be detected by neighboring LF in the rat intestine.

ABSTRACT. Surfaces of the most luminal positions of mucosae are fundamental settlement sites of indigenous bacteria throughout the rat alimentary tract. In these positions, also epithelial cell-shedding sites, the special sugar expression in the glycocalyx is very important as it provides possible ligands of bacterial lectins for attachment to epithelial cells. Therefore, the sugar expression in glycocalyx of epithelial cells was lectin-histochemically surveyed using 21 lectins throughout the rat alimentary tract. From the tongue to the nonglandular part of the stomach, -D-Man, -D-Glc and -D-GalNAc were detected on the surface of the keratinized stratified squamous epithelium. In the glandular part of the stomach,(1-4)GlcNAc and bisected triantennary N-glycans were detected on the surface of gastric superficial epithelial cells. From the duodenum to the ileum, (GlcNAc) 2-4 was expressed exclusively on the epithelial cells in the apical portions of the intestinal villi. From the cecum to the rectum,GalNAc) n and NeuNAc were expressed on the intestinal superficial epithelial cells. These results suggest that special sugars are expressed on the most luminal portions of mucosae as exclusive epithelial cell-shedding sites, and that sugar expression differs among the various segments of the alimentary tract. These site differences might reflect differences in resident bacterial species in the rat alimentary tract.KEY WORDS: alimentary tract, indigenous bacteria, lectin histochemistry, rat, sugar expression.

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ABSTRACT. The relationship between the kinetics of villous columnar epithelial cells and the expansion of colonies of indigenous bacteria from the narrow apical portions of intestinal villi was immunohistochemically and histoplanimetrically investigated in the small intestine of bromodeoxyuridine administred Wistar rats. As a result, the lifespan of villous columnar epithelial cells was slightly shorter in the distal ileum than in other portions of small intestine, accompanying the minimum height of the intestinal villi of the distal ileum in the small intestine. The migration speed of villous columnar epithelial cells was significantly decreased toward the distal small intestine. The migration speed in the distal ileum was about one-fourth of that in the duodenum. The migration speed of the villous columnar epithelial cells was greater and their lifespans were shorter in the sites with wide expansion of the indigenous bacterial colony from the narrow apical portions of the intestinal villi than that in sites with no or less expansion. Additionally, the expansion of the indigenous bacterial colony from narrow villous apices also immediately shortened the heights of the intestinal villi. These findings suggest that the migration speed of villous columnar epithelial cells might contribute to the regulation of the settlement of bacteria at the villous apices and the inevitable proliferation of indigenous bacteria at the intervillous spaces in the rat small intestine. KEY WORDS: apotosis, enteric bacteria, gastrointestinal tract, host defence, immuno-histochemistry.

ABSTRACT. To clarify the fundamental regulation mechanism against indigenous bacterial proliferation in the alimentary tract, we immunohistochemically examined the localization of 4 bactericidal peptides (BP) in the rat digestive exocrine glands. In the upper alimentary tract, lysozyme was detected in the gustatory, extraorbital lacrimal and parotid glands. Secretory phospholipase A2 (sPLA2) was detected in the extraorbital lacrimal glands. -defensin1 was detected in the gustatory and extraorbital lacrimal glands. -defensin2 was detected in the Harderian glands. In the stomach, -defensins were detected in the gastric superficial epithelial cells. In the small and large intestines, only lysozyme and sPLA2 were detected in the Paneth cells. In the cecum, all 4 BP were detected in the middle to apical portions of the crypts, and only sPLA2 was detected in the basal portion. No BP were localized in other exocrine glands associated with the alimentary tract. In addition, all 4 BP were also detected in the columnar epithelial cells of the apical portions of intestinal villi. In the intestinal superficial epithelial cells, lysozyme and -defensins were detected in the ascending colon, whereas only -defensin1 was detected in the descending colon and rectum. These results suggest that BP are mainly secreted from exocrine tissues in the initial portion of the digestive tract and play a role in host defense against indigenous bacteria throughout the digestive tract. Part of the BP in the chyme might be absorbed by the epithelium at the most inner sites of mucosae in the small and large intestines.KEY WORDS: bactericidal peptides, digestive organs, exocrine glands, immunohistochemistry, indigenous bacteria.