Expression of endothelial barrier antigen immunoreactivity in blood vessels following compression trauma to rat spinal cord. Temporal evolution and relation to the degree of the impact.
The endothelial barrier antigen (EBA) recognised by a monoclonal antibody is expressed in rat cerebral microvessels possessing blood-brain barrier properties but only weakly by fenestrated vessels. We have studied the expression of this marker in the spinal cord of control rats and compared the findings with those seen in rats subjected to compression injury at the T8-9 level with a survival period of 4 h, 24 h, 4 days and 9 days. To that end, formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded material was immunostained by the avidin-biotin-peroxidase complex method. Sections from control rats presented a distinct immunostaining at the site of the endothelial cells of almost all microvessels in the grey and white matter of the cord. The anterior and posterior spinal arteries did not show such staining. Neurons and glial cells were unstained. Rats which had survived 4 h after a moderate or severe compression trauma still showed immunoreactivity in intramedullary microvessels at the site of injury. There was a moderate reduction of vascular immunoreactivity at 24 h and a pronounced loss of such reactivity at 4 days after trauma. At 9 days after compression the expression of the endothelial barrier antigen had almost been normalised in the microvessels of the cord. In conclusion, using immunohistochemistry, EBA can be demonstrated in noninjured rat spinal cord microvessels, while the staining disappears at the site of compression trauma to the cord. The EBA marker can be used to indicate sites of vascular injury in spinal cord compression injury. The factors causing the disappearance and restitution of the antigen are unknown.
Perdiki
M
M
Department of Pathology, University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden.
Farooque
M
M
Holtz
A
A
Li
G L
GL
Olsson
Y
Y
D000818:Animals; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D000954:Antigens, Surface / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D001808:Blood Vessels / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D016612:Paraffin Embedding; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000473:pathology; D013117:Spinal Cord Compression / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D013997:Time Factors
D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D000954:Antigens, Surface; C114781:endothelial barrier antigen, rat