The ionic components of normal human oesophageal epithelium.

The distribution of cations and anions in normal human oesophageal epithelium has been investigated with the pyroantimonate and silver-osmium tetroxide techniques. There is a discontinuous distribution of both ions in the intercellular space. The ions are associated with various organelles, as has already been described in the literature. Specifically, in the oesophageal epithelium, there are a few deposits of pyroantimonate and occasional silver in the membrane coating granules, but here is no apparent relationship of either ion with the tonofilaments or glycogen particles. The superficial cells are leaky and contain fewer ions than the deeper functional layer cells.