Interaction of lymphocytes and high endothelial venules in irradiated lymph nodes.

After total-body exposure to various doses of ionizing radiation, the ability of lymphocytes to interact specifically with high endothelial venules of rat cervical and mesenteric lymph nodes was analyzed in frozen sections. Following a radiation dose of 1.5 Gy, high endothelial venules remained intact and the binding of unirradiated lymphocytes to the venules was enhanced relative to unirradiated controls. At radiation doses above 5.0 Gy, damage to high endothelial venules was observed histologically as well as assessed functionally. There was a significant decrease in specific lymphocyte-venule binding and a significant increase in nonspecific binding. These findings suggest that radiation-induced damage to high endothelial venules might play a role in radiation-induced immunosuppression by interfering with the normal passage of lymphocytes from the blood into lymph nodes via a specific interaction between lymphocytes and high endothelial venules.