Evans blue dye: its accumulation in extracellular space in relation to endothelial cell basement membrane in normal an atherosclerotic areas of abdominal aorta.
Intravenously (IV) injected Evans blue dye consistently accumulates at particular areas in aortas of normal swine. Theses areas are also where IV injected tracer cholesterol accumulates. We studied the ultrastructural characteristics of blue vs nonblue areas in the abdominal aortas of both control and atherosclerotic swine. In blue areas, the basement membrane was largely missing beneath the endothelial cells in both normal swine and swine with raised atherosclerotic lesions; the basement membrane that was present was often discontinuous. If the basement membrane helps regulate the transport of Evans blue dye across the arterial wall, its absence may play a part in the accumulation of the dye. In raised atherosclerotic lesions, those portions that accumulated Evans blue dye had a larger amount of amorphous extracellular matrix than did nonblue areas. No consistent difference between blue and nonblue areas were seen in the endothelial cell junctions of abdominal aortas in either control or atherosclerotic swine. Similarly, no differences were demonstrable in the number of Golgi complexes, mitochondria, or profiles of smooth or rough endoplasmic reticulum per cell.
D000818:Animals; D001012:Aorta, Abdominal / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D001161:Arteriosclerosis / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D001391:Azo Compounds / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D001485:Basement Membrane / Q000648:ultrastructure; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000648:ultrastructure; D004727:Endothelium / Q000648:ultrastructure; D005070:Evans Blue / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000378:metabolism; D005110:Extracellular Space; D007275:Injections, Intravenous; D007365:Intercellular Junctions / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008297:Male; D008871:Microvilli / Q000648:ultrastructure; D010477:Perfusion; D013552:Swine
D001391:Azo Compounds; D005070:Evans Blue