Importance of the Villus Microcirculation for Intestinal Absorption of Glucose

摘要

The microcirculation is often regarded as the junior partner in the spectacular transport processes that occur in the gastrointestinal tract. While its importance in the delivery of oxygen is acknowledged, its role in the delivery of solutes other than oxygen to sites of secretion and in their clearance from sites of absorption is often considered briefly or regarded as obvious and dismissed without further discussion. We have recently conducted an analysis of intestinal glucose absorption and our results suggest that this neglect of the microcirculation is misplaced [1]. Increases in blood flow through the villus microcirculation in proportion to increases of glucose absorption accompanied by similar increases in the product of permeability and surface area of the exchange vessels, appear to be essential for high rates of glucose uptake. In this paper we summarize our conclusions and outline the basis of the analysis we have used to reach them.