Pulmonary neutrophil kinetics in sheep: effects of altered hemodynamics

Quantitative Pulmonary Neutrophil Dynamics Using Computer-Vision Stabilized Intravital Imaging

In vivo intravital imaging in animal models in the lung remains challenging owing to respiratory motion artifacts. Here we describe a novel intravital imaging approach based on the computer-vision stabilization algorithm, Computer-Vision Stabilized Intravital Imaging. This method corrects lung movements and deformations at submicron precision in respiring mouse lungs. The precision enables high-throughput quantitative analysis of intravital pulmonary polymorphonuclear neutrophil (PMN) dynamics in lungs. We quantified real-time PMN patrolling dynamics of microvessels in the basal state and PMN recruitment resulting from sequestration in a model of endotoxemia in mice. We focused on determining the marginated pool of PMNs in the lung. Direct visualization of marginated PMNs revealed that they are not static but highly dynamic and undergo repeated cycles of "catch and release." PMNs briefly arrest in larger diameter capillary junction (∼10 μm) and then squeeze into narrower, approximately 5-μm diameter vessels through PMN deformation. We also observed that the sequestered PMNs in lung microvessels lost their migratory capabilities in association with cell morphological change following prolonged endotoxemia. These observations underscore the value of direct visualization and quantitative analysis of PMN dynamics in lungs to study PMN physiology and pathophysiology and role in inflammatory lung injury.

Neutrophil kinetics in the pulmonary microcirculation. Effects of pressure and flow in the dependent lung

Increases in pulmonary arterial pressure or blood flow raise peripheral white cell count by releasing sequestered leukocytes from the lung. The effects of altered hemodynamics, however, on the leukocyte sequestration site and on the distribution of leukocyte transit times through the pulmonary microcirculation are unknown. We used in vivo fluorescence videomicroscopy to study the passage of individual, fluorescein-isothiocyanate-labeled neutrophils through the pulmonary microcirculation of anesthetized dogs. Pulmonary hemodynamics were altered over a wide range. Regardless of the hemodynamic conditions, the only place that any of the 2,919 observed neutrophils stopped was in the capillaries. The periods of immobility had a wide range, from less than 1 to greater than 1,200 s. Because the cells remained motionless once they stopped and then accelerated suddenly as they regained the free-flowing stream, the obstructions must have been discrete. About a quarter of the capillary pathways had one site of high resistance. Another quarter offered two or more obstructions. In the remaining half, the neutrophils passed rapidly and without pause from arteriole to venule. Increases in pressure and flow decreased the number of times that individual cells stopped. These changes altered the median transit time by shifting the distribution of transit times between the slowest and fastest groups. We conclude that most of the total pathlength of perfused capillaries offers little resistance even to neutrophils. There are, however, focal areas in individual capillaries that offer high resistance to neutrophil passage.

Fibrin is a determinant of neutrophil sequestration in the lung

We investigated the role of fibrin in the sequestration of neutrophils in lungs challenged with microembolism. Lungs of chronically prepared awake sheep were imaged after infusion of 111In-neutrophils and 131I-fibrinogen. Thrombin (80 units/kg) was administered to induce fibrin sequestration in the lung. One group received tranexamic acid (4 mg/kg i.v.) to inhibit fibrinolysis, and the control group received a saline infusion. Thrombin infusion increased both 131I-fibrinogen and 111In-neutrophils in the lung, but the increases were greater and more prolonged in the fibrinolysis-inhibited group. We examined the adherence of isolated neutrophils to fibrin matrix to investigate how neutrophil-fibrin interactions could mediate neutrophil sequestration. Unstimulated neutrophils showed a 37.5 +/- 3.1% adherence to fibrin in contrast to a 3.9 +/- 0.4% neutrophil adherence to endothelium and a 6.5 +/- 0.5% adherence to agarose. Neutrophil adherence to fibrin increased to 81.7 +/- 6.2% with activation by phorbol myristate acetate (10(-8) M) and was inhibited by a monoclonal antibody directed against the beta-chain of the CD18 leukocyte adhesion glycoprotein. The findings indicate that retention of pulmonary fibrin microthrombi is associated with increased lung uptake of neutrophils. Fibrin serves as a substrate for neutrophil adherence, and this adherence is mediated by expression of the CD18 glycoprotein complex on neutrophils. Fibrin sequestration in the lung may contribute to lung vascular injury by inducing pulmonary neutrophil uptake.

Pulmonary intravascular macrophages in domestic animal species: review of structural and functional properties

In dogs, laboratory animals, and man, the clearance of bacteria and particulates from blood occurs predominantly in hepatic Kupffer cells and splenic macrophages. In contrast, removal of blood-borne particulates in calves, sheep, goats, cats, and pigs occurs predominantly in pulmonary intravascular macrophages (PIMs). Review of recent studies indicates that PIMs are a resident cell population, junctionally adherent to the capillary endothelium of lungs and morphologically similar to hepatic Kupffer cells. PIMs are a pulmonary constituent of the mononuclear phagocyte system with respect to secretory, endocytic, and functional properties. Differentiated PIMs are rare in newborn pigs, and the majority of cells closely apposed to capillary endothelium consists of monocytes, which are occasionally in mitosis. In 7-day-old and older pigs, most cells apposed to capillary endothelium have characteristics of differentiated PIMs. This suggests a monocytic origin of PIMs in pigs. Perinatal colonization of lung capillaries by monocytes and their subsequent differentiation into PIMs represent a component of postnatal lung development. Estimates of relative PIM numbers in ovine and porcine lung parenchyma suggest cell densities similar to that of rat hepatic Kupffer cells. Apart from phagocytic properties, PIMs participate in the removal and disintegration of aged and impaired blood cells. After phagocytic stimulation, isolated PIMs secrete oxygen radicals, which are essential for microbicidal function. Similarly, by secreting bioactive lipids, stimulated PIMs may contribute to regulation of pulmonary hemodynamics. After receiving minute amounts of bacterial endotoxin, pulmonary injury is pronounced in sheep, calves, pigs, and cats, but not in laboratory animals and dogs. This presumably is related to the secretion of bioactive lipids by PIMs.