The Columnar Epithelial Cell of the Small Intestine: Digestion and Transport

Hexose Absorption After direct evidence was obtained for the role of the intestinal epithelial cell in sugar absorption,⁹⁴ it was shown that mucosal sheets, intact rings and isolated villi from hamster small intestine can accumulate such an amount of sugar that tissue concentration exceeds medium concentration⁹⁵ and sugar uptake is energy dependent and exhibits Michaelis–Menten kinetics,⁸⁰ mutual competitive inhibition and phlorizin inhibition.^{55,95 96 97 98 99} Sugar entry and accumulation were attributed to a carrier mechanism in the brush-border membrane, with entry reflecting unidirectional movement into the tissue and accumulation reflecting the tissue concentration at which sugar entry equals exit. For absorption of sugars.