A COMMENTARY ON MORPHOLOGICAL AND QUANTITATIVE ASPECTS OF MICROPARTICLE TRANSLOCATION ACROSS THE GASTROINTESTINAL MUCOSA

It is now generally accepted that particulates in the nano-range (< 1 mu m) can and do cross the intestinal mucosa. However, the issue is le ss well resolved for particles in the micro-range (> 1 mu m) and this is discussed in relation to the variety of experimental designs presen t in the literature. Emphasis is placed on the relative contributions of quantitative bulk tissue analysis with respect to qualitative and q uantitative morphological analysis. The discussion is extended to obse rvations on factors influencing the particle translocation process inc luding variation in particle uptake in relation to intestinal region a nd time post-dose adminstration based on data for uptake of similar to 2 mu m latex particles by rat Peyer's patch tissue. Although a signif icant body of data now identifies the intestinal processus of particle translocation it is underllined that discrepencies may arise as a con sequence of different analytical approaches and that this is an issue to be addressed for valid comparisons of data.