The ultrastructure of blebs induced in the hamster jejunum by ethanol

Previous light microscopic studies showed that perfusion of the hamster jejunum with 4.8% ethanol (ethanol period) in vivo produced fluid-filled subepithelial blisters (blebs) on the villi. These blebs had virtually disappeared within 45 min after the discontinuation of the ethanol perfusion (recovery period). The present study examined these ethanol-induced changes in the jejunum by scanning (SEM) and transmission (TEM) electron microscopy. TEM revealed that ethanol did not damage epithelial cells in areas where blebs were not present. In these areas the basal surfaces of the epithelial cells were attached to the basal lamina, and the lateral intercellular spaces (LIS) were open. In the areas where blebs formed, the stretched epithelial cells which covered the blebs lost their basal anchoring and so could not maintain their LIS. Both SEM and TEM indicate that there was a decrease in the quantity of glycocalyx at the surfaces of cells which covered blebs. Our findings indicate that ethanol does not directly damage epithelial cells but that the cellular damage is due to detachment over the blebs. It is likely that ethanol at first traverses the epithelial layer and then produces stasis in the villus core. Continued fluid transport by the epithelial layer in the presence of statis results in accumulation of the fluid and widely dilated LIS. With subsequent enlargement of the LIS the bases of the cells detach from the basal lamina and blebs are formed.