Morphological and physiological characteristics of pancreas-specific venular permeability induced by Monastral blue B

Mechanistic investigations of test article-induced pancreatic toxicity at the endocrine-exocrine interface in the rat

Pancreatic toxicity commonly affects the endocrine or exocrine pancreas. However, it can also occur at the endocrine-exocrine interface (EEI), where the capillary network of the islet merges with the capillaries of the surrounding acinar tissue, that is, the insulo-acinar portal system. The goal of this article is to describe a novel, test article-induced pancreatic toxicity that originated at the EEI and to summarize investigations into the mechanistic basis of the injury. This injury was initially characterized by light microscopy in 7/14 day-toxicity studies in Sprague-Dawley (Crl: CD®[SD]) rats with undisclosed test articles. Microvascular injury at the interface resulted in peri-islet serum exudation, fibrin deposition, hemorrhage, inflammation, and secondary degeneration/necrosis of surrounding exocrine tissue. More chronic injury presented as islet fibrosis and lobular atrophy. Direct cytotoxicity affecting the capillary endothelium at the EEI was confirmed ultrastructurally on day 4. Endothelial microparticle and blood flow studies further confirmed endothelial involvement. Similar lesions occurred less frequently in 2 other rat strains and not in the mouse, dog, or cynomolgus macaque. In summary, in vivo and investigative study data confirmed primary endothelial cytotoxicity in the pathogenesis of this lesion and suggested that the lesion may be rat/rat strain-specific and of uncertain relevance for human safety risk assessment.

Three-dimensional wall structure and the innervation of dental pulp blood vessels

The involvement of neural components in plasma extravasation and blood flow in the dental pulp has been established by pharmacological and physiological studies. We review here the segmental constitution of pulp vessels and the possible involvement of neural components in both the contractility and permeability of the pulp vessels from a morphological viewpoint. Six vascular segments can be identified based on the morphology of peri-endothelial cells, such as smooth muscle cells and pericytes. These are: muscular arterioles, terminal arterioles, precapillary arterioles, capillaries, postcapillary venules, and collecting or muscular venules. The perivascular nerve forms a mesh with numerous terminal varicosities, some of which attach directly to arteriolar smooth muscle cells. This mesh can be seen by scanning electron microscopy, and indicates the important role of neural components in regulating the pulpal circulation. After administering norepinephrine (0.2 mg/kg/dog), the surface texture of the smooth muscle cells of pulp arterioles reveals marked irregularities, which are correlated with arteriolar contraction. The pericytes in larger postcapillary venules (diameter 20 microm or larger) also show irregularities, whereas no changes are seen in the pericytes of either smaller postcapillary venules or capillaries. The intercellular spaces of pericytes in the postcapillary venules are wide enough for leukocytes to pass through, and the occasional extravasation of leukocytes through venule walls can be seen under electron microscopy. The microvessels of healthy human dental pulp react weakly to selectins, indicating that apparently healthy dental pulp may be weakly inflamed. In rat dental pulp, CGRP-immunoreactive nerves and nerve terminals containing many granular vesicles supply the postcapillary venules more densely than the arterioles, which suggests the involvement of postcapillary venules in neurogenic inflammation in the dental pulp.

Infection of peripancreatic lymph nodes but not islets precedes Kilham rat virus-induced diabetes in BB/Wor rats

A parvovirus serologically identified as Kilham rat virus (KRV) reproducibly induces acute type I diabetes in diabetes-resistant BB/Wor rats. The tissue tropism of KRV was investigated by in situ hybridization with a digoxigenin-labelled plasmid DNA probe containing approximately 1.6 kb of the genome of the UMass isolate of KRV. Partial sequencing of the KRV probe revealed high levels of homology to the sequence of minute virus of mice (89%) and to the sequence of H1 (99%), a parvovirus capable of infecting rats and humans. Of the 444 bases sequenced, 440 were shared by H1. KRV mRNA and DNA were readily detected in lymphoid tissues 5 days postinfection but were seldom seen in the pancreas. High levels of viral nucleic acids were observed in the thymus, spleen, and peripancreatic and cervical lymph nodes. The low levels of infection observed in the pancreas involved essentially only endothelial and interstitial cells. Beta cells of the pancreas were not infected with KRV. These findings suggest that widespread infection of peripancreatic and other lymphoid tissues but not pancreatic beta cells by KRV triggers autoimmune diabetes by perturbing the immune system of genetically predisposed BB/Wor rats.

Pancreas-specific venular labeling by monastral blue B in the BB rat: modulation by prostaglandins and their inhibitors

Leaky blood vessels in the microcirculation can be detected in vivo by injecting an animal with colloidal pigments like Monastral blue B (MbB). We have previously used this labeling method in the BB rat, an animal model of spontaneous autoimmune diabetes, and detected increased vascular permeability restricted to the venules of the pancreas. The earlier data suggested that pancreata of animals susceptible to labeling contain trapped intravascular monocytes that are activated to release vasoactive mediators after phagocytosis of MbB. To explore these observations further, we investigated the effects of prostaglandins on this system. Prostaglandins are known to be important mediators of inflammatory responses and to modulate the expression of disease in other animal models of autoimmunity. We now report that MbB-induced pancreatic labeling is modulated by misoprostol (an analogue of prostaglandin E1), prostaglandins of the E series, and inhibitors of prostaglandin synthesis. The nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs ibuprofen and ketorolac both reduced the intensity of labeling in susceptible BB rats in a dose dependent manner. In contrast, both misoprostol and prostaglandin E2 given at low doses induced pancreatic permeability in the labeling-resistant Wistar Furth rat. To extend this finding, we also tested much higher drug doses, since at high concentrations, E series prostanoids exert anti-inflammatory effects. We observed that large doses of prostaglandin E1, prostaglandin E2, and misoprostol all suppressed labeling in the BB rat. We conclude that presence of MbB in the pancreatic circulation of the rat induces organ specific venular leakage by an inflammatory process involving prostaglandins.

In vivo monastral blue-induced lamellar-bodies in lysosomes of pulmonary intravascular macrophages (PIMs) of bovine lung: implications of the surface coat

We previously reported that the pulmonary intravascular macrophages (PIMs) of sheep, goat, and calf lung contained a heparin and a lipolytic lipase sensitive surface coat by using tannic acid as a component of paraformaldehyde-glutaraldehyde-based fixative. The implication of this sensitivity was that the surface coat was predominantly comprised of lipoprotein-like substance. In this study we report that monastral blue (MB) used as a vascular tracer interacted with the coat globules and lost its original particulate appearance. Its precise localization in the PIMs was in combination with altered macromolecules of the surface coat in the form of lipid droplets, which conformed to the conventional view of neutral lipids. In contrast, pigment particles examined in their native state resembled metallic particles as electron-dense elliptical rods. The lipid droplets were subsequently internalized through endocytic route and found their access into the lysosomal compartments of PIMs at the electron microscopic level. Lamellar bodies (LLBs) arose from the lysosomal matrix after the entry of lipid droplets in the secondary lysosomes. Acid phosphatase activity was located in secondary lysosomes as well as in endosomes. These observations suggest that coat granules of the PIMs acted as a carrier of exogenous MB particles to deliver the complex to the lysosomal compartment where partial digestion lead to the formation of lamellar bodies. The implications of MB (cationic dye) as a vascular tracer for studying phagocytic index of PIMs in the light of their coat and the rapid development of LLBs are discussed. It is proposed that MB by initially combining with the surface coat provokes mobilization of intracellular lipid pools. In this way metabolism of vasoactive lipid in the PIMs is stimulated to influence the dynamics of pulmonary circulation in the calves.