The jejunal absorptive cell of the newborn pig: An electron microscopic study

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Abstract
The morphology of the intestinal absorptive cell in the newborn pig is strikingly different from that of the three‐week‐old pig. The former's unusual characteristics are: a poorly developed hirsute layer over the microvilli, an abundance of pinocytotic vacuoles and apical tubules, and a subnuclear location of the Golgi apparatus. In unfed newborn pigs the morphology does not change appreciably by 42 hours. Spinous processes line the apical tubules which may be associated with protein absorption. The retention of the tubular system in the absence of feeding (for 42 hours) and its disappearance with feeding, lends support to the concept that this system is important in the absorption of protein macromolecules in the newborn pig. The position of the Golgi may be instrumental in regulating the ability of the cell to absorb large molecular weight proteins.