Intestinal villi of the jejunum (100X)

Intestinal villi of the jejunum. Image copyright: University of Oslo, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. (Tissue stain: H+E).

What are intestinal villi?

- intestinal villi are finger-like structures consisting of loose connective tissue, smooth muscle cells and lymphocytes, and which on the surface are clad with columnar epithelium.

- What are crypts of Lieberkühn?

The crypts of Lieberkühn (intestinal glands) are seen as mucous tubular glands located between the villi intestinales and which are directly connected to them. Epithelial stem cells that form the epithelium of villi are found at the base of the Lieberkühn crypts / intestinal glands.

Published November 12th 2021, updated November 14th 2021.