The possibility of persorption of prefixed bovine serum albumin-coated sheep erythrocytes (BSA-SEs) from mucous epithelial cells and its mechanisms were investigated in rats orally immunized by BSA for 14 consecutive days. On the day after the final oral immunization, the rats were duodenally perfused by BSA-SEs or non-coated SEs. BSA-SEs were also duodenally perfused in nonimmunized rats. Thirty min after perfusion, BSA-SEs were significantly more engulfed by late-apoptotic-stage villous columnar epithelial cells in the orally immunized rats than those in other experiments. The specific antibody (SpAb) was detected on the surfaces of BSA-SEs in rats with oral immunization. In Peyer's patches of all animals, no SEs reached the follicle-associated epithelium, because of the close attachment of follicle-associated intestinal villi and the thick mucous layer. BSA-SEs were more frequently persorbed into portal blood in the orally immunized rats than in other rats. Small numbers of BSA-SEs or SEs were detected in the systemic blood of all animals. BSA-SEs were also histologically found in the blood vessels of the liver, but not in mesenteric lymph nodes. These findings suggest that sensitized antigenic particulates are taken up by late-apoptotic-stage villous columnar epithelial cells in the small intestine and are finally persorbed into the systemic blood circulation. The uptake of antigenic particulates might be mediated by its luminal SpAb.