Previously, the specific antibody-mediated persorption of antigenic molecules and particulates from the small-intestinal lumen into the peripheral blood was clarified in rats, but the intermediation of the receptor for the specific antibodies was not. In this study, the existence of receptor for the specific antibody was experimentally examined in the rat small intestine. Glutaraldehyde-fixed sheep erythrocytes (SEs) coated by Fc-fragments of IgG (IgG-Fc), (Fab')(2)-fragments of IgG (IgG-Fab) or bovine serum albumin (BSA), were injected into 3 jejunal loops each 2 cm in length in non-orally pre-immunized rats, respectively. Thirty minutes after the injection, IgG-Fc-coated SEs were significantly more engulfed by villous columnar epithelial cells than Fab- or BSA-coated SEs. The most frequent absorption sites were the intestinal villous apices. The IgG-Fc-coated SEs were adhered to the striated borders and were engulfed by villous columnar epithelial cells. IgG-Fc-coated SEs passing through the epithelial cells were also detected in the subepithelial blood capillaries just beneath the villous epithelium, but not in the connective tissue and the lymph vessels. These findings suggest that the absorption of luminal antigenic particulates is probably mediated by the Fc-receptor, and that the absorbed antigenic particulates are directly transferred to the hepatic portal blood by passing through the endothelium of the subepithelial blood capillaries.