Uterine lymphatics: passage of ink and lymphoid cells from the rat's uterine wall and lumen

Journal Article · Sun May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1983 · Biol. Reprod.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1095/biolreprod28.4.941· OSTI ID:5128939

Head, J R; Lande, I J

The fate of ink and viable lymphoid cells placed in the wall and the lumen of the cycling rat uterus was determined. India ink injected into the myometrium rapidly filled major lymphatic trunks, going to the ipsilateral renal and/or iliac lymph nodes, depending on the site of inoculation along the uterus' length. No other abdominal or thoracic nodes seem to be involved. However, ink injected into the uterine lumen penetrated the endometrial stroma very slowly and only scattered dye-containing phagocytic cells could be seen in draining nodes. Ink-laden macrophages were retained for at least several days in the endometrium. Lymphoid cells similarly injected were traced by several techniques: 1) scintillation counting of tissues for /sup 51/Cr-labeled cells; 2) autoradiography for (/sup 3/H)uridine-labeled cells; 3) fluorescent microscopy for fluorescein-containing cells in frozen tissues; and 4) graft-versus-host reactivity in draining lymph nodes. All techniques gave the same results: cells injected into the myometrium appeared rapidly in draining nodes, inducing a graft-versus-host reaction, whereas cells placed in the uterine lumen were found in only small numbers in the regional nodes, even after several days, and graft-versus-host reactions were minimal or absent. The barrier(s) to cell movement from the uterine lumen remains to be defined, but is of considerable interest since cell traffic in the other direction is a well-documented normal process.

• Research Organization: Univ. of Texas Health Science Center, Dallas
• OSTI ID: 5128939
• Journal Information: Biol. Reprod.; (United States), Journal Name: Biol. Reprod.; (United States) Vol. 28:4; ISSN BIREB
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

550100* -- Behavioral Biology
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
ANIMAL CELLS
ANIMALS
AUTORADIOGRAPHY
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS
BLOOD
BLOOD CELLS
BODY
BODY FLUIDS
CHROMIUM 51
CHROMIUM ISOTOPES
CONNECTIVE TISSUE CELLS
DISTRIBUTION
ELECTRON CAPTURE RADIOISOTOPES
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
FEMALE GENITALS
FLUORESCENCE
GRAFT-HOST REACTION
IMMUNITY
INDIA INK
INJECTION
INKS
INTAKE
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
ISOTOPES
LABELLED COMPOUNDS
LEUKOCYTES
LUMINESCENCE
LYMPH NODES
LYMPHATIC SYSTEM
LYMPHOCYTES
MAMMALS
MATERIALS
MEMBRANE TRANSPORT
NUCLEI
ORGANS
PHYSIOLOGY
PIGMENTS
RADIOISOTOPES
RATS
RODENTS
SOMATIC CELLS
TISSUE DISTRIBUTION
TRITIUM COMPOUNDS
UTERUS
VERTEBRATES