Experimental sprue-like small intestinal lesions in pigs.

The virus of transmissible gastroenteritis produced sprue-like lesions in the small intestines of young pigs. These lesions were characterized by villous shortening, fusing and blunting in the jejunum and ileum. There was decreased height of the brush border and morphologic alteration of the villous epithelial cells from simple columnar to a variable cuboidal type. Accompanying these microscopic lesions were histochemical changes characterized by decreased staining intensity of acid phosphatase, alkaline phosphatase, adenosine triphosphatase, leucine aminopeptidase, succinic dehydrogenase and malic dehydrogenase in the affected intestinal mucosa. The clinical nature of transmissible gastroenteritis in the pig together with the histopathologic and histochemical changes may provide a useful experimental model for obtaining additional basic information on enteric disturbances.