Skip to main content
PMC home page
Journal of Anatomy logoLink to Journal of Anatomy
. 1987 Oct;154:27–37.

The blood-nerve barrier: an in vivo lanthanum tracer study.

M L MacKenzie 1, M N Ghabriel 1, G Allt 1
PMCID: PMC1261832  PMID: 3446663

Abstract

The permeability of the blood-nerve barrier was investigated using ionic lanthanum as an electron-dense tracer. The rat sural nerve was microinjected in vivo with lanthanum nitrate solution either into the endoneurial space or into the epineurium. Five to sixty minutes after injection the sural nerves were fixed by vascular perfusion or immersion. Using electron microscopy, lanthanum tracer was observed to be associated with endoneurial vessels in the perivascular spaces, in the inter-endothelial clefts and within the lumina. Furthermore, tracer was present in the spaces between adjacent endothelial cell layers and within vesicles and caveolae of endothelial cells. Epineurial vessels showed a similar distribution of tracer deposits but in greater quantities in inter-endothelial cell spaces and vessel lumina. The results are considered to demonstrate an absence of a blood-nerve barrier to ions as exemplified by lanthanum and are compatible with data from physiological experiments. The blood-nerve and blood-brain barriers are contrasted in their permeability to ions, their related fine structure and their physiological roles.

Full text

PDF
29

Images in this article

29Figs. 1-2
on p.29
30Fig. 3
on p.30
31Fig. 4
on p.31
32Fig. 5
on p.32
33Fig. 6
on p.33

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Bouldin T. W., Krigman M. R. Differential permeability of cerebral capillary and choroid plexus to lanthanum ion. Brain Res. 1975 Dec 5;99(2):444–448. doi: 10.1016/0006-8993(75)90053-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bradbury M. W., Crowder J. Compartments and barriers in the sciatic nerve of the rabbit. Brain Res. 1976 Feb 27;103(3):515–526. doi: 10.1016/0006-8993(76)90449-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Brightman M. W., Reese T. S. Junctions between intimately apposed cell membranes in the vertebrate brain. J Cell Biol. 1969 Mar;40(3):648–677. doi: 10.1083/jcb.40.3.648. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Claude P., Goodenough D. A. Fracture faces of zonulae occludentes from "tight" and "leaky" epithelia. J Cell Biol. 1973 Aug;58(2):390–400. doi: 10.1083/jcb.58.2.390. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Connell C. J., Mercer K. L. Freeze-fracture appearance of the capillary endothelium in the cerebral cortex of mouse brain. Am J Anat. 1974 Aug;140(4):595–599. doi: 10.1002/aja.1001400412. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Crone C., Olesen S. P. Electrical resistance of brain microvascular endothelium. Brain Res. 1982 Jun 3;241(1):49–55. doi: 10.1016/0006-8993(82)91227-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Dermietzel R. Junctions in the central nervous system of the cat. IV. Interendothelial junctions of cerebral blood vessels from selected areas of the brain. Cell Tissue Res. 1975 Nov 26;164(1):45–62. doi: 10.1007/BF00221694. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Hardebo J. E., Kåhrström J. Endothelial negative surface charge areas and blood-brain barrier function. Acta Physiol Scand. 1985 Nov;125(3):495–499. doi: 10.1111/j.1748-1716.1985.tb07746.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Inomata K., Yoshioka T., Nasu F., Mayahara H. Ultracytochemical studies of capillary endothelial cells in the rat central nervous system. Acta Anat (Basel) 1984;118(4):243–248. doi: 10.1159/000145852. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Jacobs J. M. Vascular permeability and neurotoxicity. Environ Health Perspect. 1978 Oct;26:107–116. doi: 10.1289/ehp.7826107. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. KRNJEVIC K. Some observations on perfused frog sciatic nerves. J Physiol. 1954 Feb 26;123(2):338–356. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1954.sp005055. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. MacKenzie M. L., Ghabriel M. N., Allt G. Nodes of Ranvier and Schmidt-Lanterman incisures: an in vivo lanthanum tracer study. J Neurocytol. 1984 Dec;13(6):1043–1055. doi: 10.1007/BF01148601. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Mackenzie M. L., Shorer Z., Ghabriel M. N., Allt G. Myelinated nerve fibres and the fate of lanthanum tracer: an in vivo study. J Anat. 1984 Jan;138(Pt 1):1–14. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Martínez-Palomo A., Erlij D. Structure of tight junctions in epithelia with different permeability. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1975 Nov;72(11):4487–4491. doi: 10.1073/pnas.72.11.4487. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Nagy Z., Goehlert U. G., Wolfe L. S., Hüttner I. Ca2+ depletion-induced disconnection of tight junctions in isolated rat brain microvessels. Acta Neuropathol. 1985;68(1):48–52. doi: 10.1007/BF00688955. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Nagy Z., Mathieson G., Hüttner I. Blood-brain barrier opening to horseradish peroxidase in acute arterial hypertension. Acta Neuropathol. 1979 Oct;48(1):45–53. doi: 10.1007/BF00691790. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Olesen S. P. Rapid increase in blood-brain barrier permeability during severe hypoxia and metabolic inhibition. Brain Res. 1986 Mar 12;368(1):24–29. doi: 10.1016/0006-8993(86)91038-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Olsson Y. Studies on vascular permeability in peripheral nerves. IV. Distribution of intravenously injected protein tracers in the peripheral nervous system of various species. Acta Neuropathol. 1971;17(2):114–126. doi: 10.1007/BF00687487. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Olsson Y. Topographical differences in the vascular permeability of the peripheral nervous system. Acta Neuropathol. 1968 Jan 2;10(1):26–33. doi: 10.1007/BF00690507. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Schatzki P. F., Newsome A. Neutralized lanthanum solution: a largely noncolloidal ultrastructural tracer. Stain Technol. 1975 May;50(3):171–178. doi: 10.3109/10520297509117054. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Schmidley J. W., Wissig S. L. Anionic sites on the luminal surface of fenestrated and continuous capillaries of the CNS. Brain Res. 1986 Jan 22;363(2):265–271. doi: 10.1016/0006-8993(86)91011-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Shivers R. R., Betz A. L., Goldstein G. W. Isolated rat brain capillaries possess intact, structurally complex, interendothelial tight junctions; freeze-fracture verification of tight junction integrity. Brain Res. 1984 Dec 24;324(2):313–322. doi: 10.1016/0006-8993(84)90042-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Shivers R. R. The blood-brain barrier of a reptile, Anolis carolinensis. A freeze-fracture study. Brain Res. 1979 Jun 22;169(2):221–230. doi: 10.1016/0006-8993(79)91026-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Shivers R. R. The effect of hyperglycemia on brain capillary permeability in the lizard, Anolis carolinensis. A freeze-fracture analysis of blood-brain barrier pathology. Brain Res. 1979 Jul 20;170(3):509–522. doi: 10.1016/0006-8993(79)90968-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Tani E., Yamagata S., Ito Y. Freeze-fracture of capillary endothelium in rat brain. Cell Tissue Res. 1977 Jan 12;176(2):157–165. doi: 10.1007/BF00229459. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Vorbrodt A. W., Dobrogowska D. H., Lossinsky A. S., Wisniewski H. M. Ultrastructural localization of lectin receptors on the luminal and abluminal aspects of brain micro-blood vessels. J Histochem Cytochem. 1986 Feb;34(2):251–261. doi: 10.1177/34.2.3753715. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Welch K., Davson H. The permeability of capillaries of the sciatic nerve of the rabbit to several materials. J Neurosurg. 1972 Jan;36(1):21–26. doi: 10.3171/jns.1972.36.1.0021. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Anatomy are provided here courtesy of Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland

RESOURCES