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Fat absorptive processes in the intestine of the Antarctic fish Notothenia coriiceps (Richardson, 1844)

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Abstract

Absorption of lipids by the enterocytes of Notothenia coriiceps, an omnivorous Antarctic and subAntarctic fish, was studied by light and electron microscopy. The lipids are absorbed by the anterior and middle intestine segments. They appear as fat droplets that measure from 0.5 to 7 μm of diameter and which accumulate in the apical cytoplasm within the first 24 h and seem to be the main fat storage form in the enterocytes. Fat is also observed as lipid particles with 60–300 nm inside the rough endoplasmic reticulum and cytoplasmic smooth vesicles. The epithelial intercellular space and the mucosal inner lamina contain lipid particles, which probably are the fat transport form. Our observations show that an intense lipid absorptive process takes place in N. coriiceps digestive system, due to the great extension of the intestine involved and due to the great lipid accumulation found in the epithelial compartment.

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Acknowledgedments

This work received financial support from the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo, FAPESP (grant no. 94/6255.8), Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, CNPQ (grants no. 510581/93-5 and 48.0735/94-8), and PROANTAR/SECIRM (grants no. 67.0004/94). The authors are also greatly indebted to the logistic support provided by Marinha do Brasil.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sector of Anatomy, Department of Surgery, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of São Paulo, Av. Prof. Dr. Orlando Marques de Paiva 87, 05508-270, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

    Francisco Javier Hernandez-Blazquez, Ricardo Romão Guerra, José Roberto Kfoury Jr, Pedro Primo Bombonato & Bruno Cogliati

  2. Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sao Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    José Roberto Machado Cunha da Silva

Authors
  1. Francisco Javier Hernandez-Blazquez
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  2. Ricardo Romão Guerra
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  3. José Roberto Kfoury Jr
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  4. Pedro Primo Bombonato
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  5. Bruno Cogliati
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  6. José Roberto Machado Cunha da Silva
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Correspondence to Francisco Javier Hernandez-Blazquez.

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Hernandez-Blazquez, F.J., Guerra, R.R., Kfoury, J.R. et al. Fat absorptive processes in the intestine of the Antarctic fish Notothenia coriiceps (Richardson, 1844). Polar Biol 29, 831–836 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-006-0121-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-006-0121-x

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