F. Ikomi et al., EXTRACELLULAR AND INTRACELLULAR-TRANSPORT OF PERFLUBRON EMULSION (IMAGENT(R) LN) FROM SUBCUTANEOUS TISSUE TO REGIONAL LYMPHATICS, Lymphology, 27, 1994, pp. 270-273
The purpose of this study was to examine the uptake mechanism of collo
idal particles from subcutaneous tissue into initial lymphatics. The s
tudy was performed on anesthetized rabbits using Imagent(R)LN, a 60%w/
v perflubron (perfluorooctyl bromide [PFOB]; Alliance Pharmaceutical C
orp., San Diego, CA) emulsion. Extracellular (dispersed particles) and
intracellular (phagocytosed particles by macrophages) perflubron tran
sport was observed in lymph fluid after 0.1 ml injection of fluorescen
tly labeled perflubron emulsion into the dorsal skin of the foot. Samp
les were collected from cannulated lower leg prenodal lymphatics. Perf
lubron emulsion particles were visualized and quantified by using a fl
uorescent technique. Extracellular and intracellular perflubron could
be determined in the lymph samples. These findings indicate that both
intracellular and extracellular transport mechanisms play a role in th
e uptake of colloidal particles from interstitial tissue to lymphatics
.