On the possible origin of extra-epithelial enterochromaffin cells by budding from the crypts of Lieberkuhn.

This study was undertaken to test Pierre Masson's still unconfirmed theory that extra-epithelial enterochromaffin cells in the gut arise in adult life by budding from the crypts of Lieberkuhn under conditions of low grade inflammation. Appendices (900) were reviewed and 19 were selected for serial section study because in random sections they showed lateral fusion of the crypts, one of the key features described by Masson. Ten specimens without crypt fusion served as controls. Sixteen of the 19 study specimens and one of the control specimens showed budding, averaging one bud in every 88 sections. Most buds were in direct contact with Schwann cells in the adjacent lamina propria and 45 per cent of them contained enterochromaffin cells. There was also histologic evidence linking buds and lateral crypt fusion to low grade inflammation. Masson's ideas are, therefore, confirmed insofar as the existence of buds and their relationship to enterochromaffin cells, Schwann cells, and inflammation is concerned. The actual separation of buds from the crypts to form extra-epithelial enterochromaffin cells has yet to be proved.