Measurement of blood flow in the main arteriole of the villi in rat small intestine with FITC-labeled erythrocytes.
Changes of blood flow in the intestine occur under various pathological conditions. The mucosa of the intestine is especially sensitive to tissue damage resulting in swelling, loss of tissue integrity, and ulceration. Changes of blood supply to the mucosa may contribute to local tissue damage. Therefore, the quantification of the perfusion of the intestinal mucosa in an animal model may help to elucidate the involved pathophysiological mechanisms. In our study, autologous erythrocytes were labeled with fluorescein-isothiocyanate and used for the evaluation of erythrocyte velocity in the main arteriole of the villi in the distal part of the ileum using intravital microscopy. In addition, the arteriolar diameter was determined, and the arteriolar blood flow was calculated. Under stable cardiovascular and respiratory conditions, blood flow ranged between 6.6 +/- 0.3 and 5.9 +/- 0.3 nl/min (means +/- SEM) during the observation period of 120 min. Our results suggest that this approach is a feasible method to quantify blood flow in the main arteriole of the villi and is therefore a suitable method for further investigating changes of mucosal blood flow in acute and chronic states of bowel disease.
Department of Surgery, Department of Anesthesiology, Department of Experimental Surgery, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 110, Heidelberg, 69120, Germany.
J
J
Ruh
E
E
Ryschich
A
A
Secchi
M M
MM
Gebhard
F
F
Glaser
E
E
Klar
C
C
Herfarth
D000818:Animals; D001160:Arterioles / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D004912:Erythrocytes; D016650:Fluorescein-5-isothiocyanate; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D007082:Ileum / Q000098:blood supply*; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000098:blood supply*; D008297:Male; D018715:Microscopy, Video; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D016650:Fluorescein-5-isothiocyanate