title: Properties of the lymphatic cerebrospinal fluid transport system in the rat: impact of elevated intracranial pressure.
abstract: Previous studies suggested that a major portion of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is absorbed by extracranial lymphatics located in the olfactory turbinates. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of elevated intracranial pressure (ICP) on downstream cervical lymphatic pressures in the rat. Pressures were measured in the deep cervical lymph nodes using a servo-null micropressure system. A catheter was placed in a lateral ventricle and fluid was infused from a reservoir at defined ICPs. When Ringer's solution was infused, elevations of ICP from 10 to 50 cm H2O resulted on average in a reduction of diastolic cervical node pressures. In contrast, when a diluted plasma solution (80% plasma in Ringer's) was infused, downstream diastolic lymphatic pressures increased as ICP was elevated to 50 cm H2O. These data are consistent with the view that much of the CSF-derived water that convects into the lymphatics is absorbed into the ethmoidal or nodal blood vessels. This study supports the concept of fluid continuity between the subarachnoid space and extracranial lymphatics and suggests that this loss of CSF-derived water may act as a safety mechanism to reduce the volume load to the downstream lymphatic vessels.
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Program, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont., Canada.
authors.forename: Lena
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Koh
authors.forename: Gurjit
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Nagra
authors.forename: Miles
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Johnston
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001692:Biological Transport; D001834:Body Water / Q000378:metabolism; D002552:Cerebral Ventricles / Q000378:metabolism; D002555:Cerebrospinal Fluid / Q000378:metabolism*; D015170:Cerebrospinal Fluid Pressure; D018481:Convection; D005004:Ethmoid Bone / Q000378:metabolism; D005070:Evans Blue / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D019586:Intracranial Hypertension / Q000503:physiopathology*; D007457:Iodine Radioisotopes / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D007552:Isotonic Solutions / Q000008:administration & dosage; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000378:metabolism; D008208:Lymphatic System / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D010949:Plasma; D011312:Pressure; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012212:Rheology; D000077331:Ringer's Solution; D012709:Serum Albumin / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D012826:Silicone Elastomers / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D013346:Subarachnoid Space; D014420:Turbinates / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D007457:Iodine Radioisotopes; D007552:Isotonic Solutions; D012709:Serum Albumin; D012826:Silicone Elastomers; D005070:Evans Blue; D000077331:Ringer's Solution