[Ultrastructural changes in the epithelial cells of the small-intestinal mucosa in liver cirrhosis]

Electron microscopic study of epithelial cells of cryptae and villi of the mucous membrane of the small intestine was carried out in 11 patients with portal cirrhosis of the liver in the active phase. Changes including a decrease in the number of ribosomes, impaired structure of mitochondria, microvilli, terminal reticulum, and glycocalix were found. Epithelial cells of the villi were affected more than the epithelium of cryptae. These changes were identical in the duodenum and in the proximal part of the jujunum.