Effects of leukocyte-capillary plugging in skeletal muscle
ischemia/reperfusion injury.
Harris, Anthony G., and Thomas C. Skalak.
Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Virginia,
Charlottesville, Virginia 22908
APStracts 3:0216H, 1996.
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between
increased capillary network resistance due to leukocyte-capillary
plugging and tissue injury following ischemia/reperfusion (I/R).
After a 30 minute complete ischemia in rat spinotrapezius muscle, the
frequency and duration of leukocyte-capillary plugging were measured
throughout capillary networks and used to estimate the increase in
network flow resistance for the case of I/R alone, I/R with
phalloidin (PL), and I/R with both phalloidin and cytochalasin D.
Propidium iodide (PI) was used to label non-viable muscle cell nuclei
within the volume of tissue supplied by the capillary network, and
counts were made before ischemia, immediately after reperfusion, and
1 hr post-reperfusion. For I/R alone and I/R plus PL there is a
linear correlation between the increase in resistance (up to 29%) and
the increase in the number of PI positive nuclei during the
reperfusion period. With both PL and CD present in the superfusate
the resistance increase was abolished and the amount of tissue damage
during reperfusion was minimized. The results indicate that the
increase resistance is linearly related to the tissue damage, and
that a reduction of the leukocyte stiffness reduces the injury.
Received 25 August 1994; accepted in final form 7 May 1996.
APS Manuscript Number H771-4.
Article publication pending Am. J. Physiol. (Heart Circ. Physiology).
ISSN 1080-4757 Copyright 1996 The American Physiological Society.
Published in APStracts on 5 June 96