Stimulation by Immune Complexes of Mucus Release from Goblet Cells of the Rat Small Intestine

Abstract

Immune complexes (bovine serum albumin with rat antibodies to bovine serum albumin) formed in twofold antibody excess were injected into the duodenum of normal rats. In comparison to controls injected with antigen only, there was a marked increase in the percentage of disrupted goblet cells (an index of mucus release) in segments from the intestine of rats exposed for 3 hours to immune complexes in vivo. Similarly, there was a significant increase in 35S-labeled mucus recovered by filtration of intestinal wash, rinse, and mucosal homogenate fluids from rats exposed to immune complexes compared to those from rats exposed to bovine serum albumin or purified rat antiserum to bovine serum albumin alone. These findings suggest that certain immune complexes can stimulate mucus release from intact rat small intestine; enhanced mucus release may have a role in clearing the surface of complexes.

Complexity of rice-water stool from patients with Vibrio cholerae plays a role in the transmission of infectious diarrhea

“…The nature of the interaction between mucin and V. cholerae may be quite evolved. For example, V. cholerae harbors the enzyme neuraminidase (sialidase), which plays a role in pathogenesis by removing sialic acid from higher-order gangliosides (24), and cholera toxin can stimulate the disruption of and ejection of mucus by goblet cells (25). From our study of VC ϩ patients, the amount of mucus produced (by percent wet volume) in rice-water stools ranged widely from Ͻ0.1% to 46%, suggesting that a patient may pass substantial quantities of mucus during the course of infection.…”

Immunologic and Neuropharmacologic Stimulation of Mucous Glycoprotein Release from Human Airways In Vitro

“…Only a few in vitro studies of mucous secretion using human lung have been reported and these reports indicate, as analyzed by autoradiographical changes (7) or radiolabeled glycoprotein secretion (8), that muscarinic stimulation increases mucous synthesis and release. No investigation of the role allergic reactions may play in human or animal mucous secretion by lung tissue has previously been reported, although either immune complexes or anaphylaxis may stimulate rat intestinal goblet cell secretion (9)(10)(11).…”

Immunological responses of rabbits to various somatic and secreted antigens of Vibrio cholerae after intra-duodenal inoculation

“…These authors used polyvinylchloride intestinal tubes to collect jejunal fluid for measuring intestinal antibodies. This isolation procedure may not have been sensitive enough for collecting immunoglobulins from human volunteers because intestinal antibodies can be associated with intestinal mucins (Walker et al, 1977). In the present study, all the rabbits -7 to cell surface proteins of V. cholerae C5 of sera from rabbits after intra-duodenal inoculation with V. cholerae C5 (Ogawa, el tor).…”