The function of the microtubules that are present in the villus enterocytes of the mammalian small intestine is virtually unknown. In order to advance our knowledge about enterocyte microtubules, a quantitative ultrastructural comparison was carried out on enterocytes from rats injected intraperitoneally with colchicine (0.5 mg/100 g body weight) in saline and from rats injected with saline alone. Our morphometric and stereologic study demonstrates that colchicine treatment results in 1) an absolute decrease in microtubules, 2) a reduction in microvilli, essentially in length, 3) an increased thickness of the terminal web, 4) an increase in total lysosomal volume, apparently by an increased number of smaller lysosomes, and 5) a decrease in the number of Golgi lamellae. These results along with those from other studies suggest to us that enterocyte microtubules are involved in the biogenesis of microvillus plasma membrane. Our morphometric data from the saline-treated rats essentially agree with comparable data from other studies. However, comparison with comparable data from hamster enterocytes demonstrates species differences.
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