Vascularisation in adipose depots surrounding immune-stimulated lymph nodes.
We report a change in the vascularisation of the adipose depots surrounding the popliteal lymph node that has, and the contralateral node that has not, been exposed to a simulated immune challenge. The percentage of the depot that consists of vessels, as measured by image analysis, decreases over a period of 2 d after immune stimulus, then increases in a biphasic manner over the next 2-3 wk. By 1 mo after the stimulus, the vascularisation has returned to baseline values. The adipose tissue surrounding both the stimulated and the unstimulated lymph nodes shows a similar pattern, but the unstimulated depot lags by 3-6 d in reaching its maximum vascularisation. These data support the hypothesis that perinodal adipose tissue is involved in peripheral immune responses.
Macqueen
H A
HA
Department of Biology, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK. h.a.macqueen@open.ac.uk
Waights
V
V
Pond
C M
CM
D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000098:blood supply*; D000818:Animals; D002196:Capillaries; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000276:immunology*; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D008297:Male; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D018919:Neovascularization, Physiologic; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar