Department of Plastic Surgery, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
Anat Rec (Hoboken). 2011 Sep;294(9):1566-73. doi: 10.1002/ar.21446. Epub 2011 Aug 1.
The lymphatic system plays an important role in human health and disease. In addition to a role in the immune response, the lymphatics can serve as a pathway for cancer metastasis. Visualizing the lymphatic system has been a difficult part of anatomic dissection studies. Anatomists have attempted to map the lymphatic system using various methods and materials; vivisection of dogs, injection of mercury into the skin and lymphatic vessel in cadavers, and injection of dye indirectly into the skin of dead and living specimens. In this study, we introduce a method of using a mixture of acrylic blue dye and hydrogen peroxide to visualize the lymphatic system in rats. The lymphatic vessels were cannulated with micropipettes, and radio-opaque orange lead oxide was selectively injected. The lymphatic system became visible from the dorsal side of the hand and foot, and distal region of the tail to their termination at the left and right subclavicular veins via lymph nodes. Cisterna chyli in the abdominal cavity and thoracic duct ran along with the aorta. The advantage of this technique is that lymph nodes as well as lymphatic channels could be recorded not only photographically but also radiographically. This microinjection technique is useful for demonstrating the lymphatic system in rats and may provide further information that will help in cancer metastasis research.
淋巴系统在人类健康和疾病中起着重要作用。除了在免疫反应中的作用外，淋巴系统还可以作为癌症转移的途径。可视化淋巴系统一直是解剖学研究中的一个难题。解剖学家试图使用各种方法和材料来绘制淋巴系统图谱；对狗进行活体解剖，将汞注入尸体的皮肤和淋巴管中，以及将染料间接注入死体和活体标本的皮肤中。在这项研究中，我们介绍了一种使用混合蓝色丙烯酸染料和过氧化氢来可视化大鼠淋巴系统的方法。用微吸管对淋巴管进行插管，并选择性地注入不透射线的橙色氧化铅。通过淋巴结，从手和脚的背面以及尾巴的远端区域，可见淋巴系统一直延伸到左右锁骨下静脉。腹腔中的乳糜池和胸导管沿着主动脉运行。这种技术的优点是，不仅可以通过摄影而且可以通过放射照相记录淋巴结以及淋巴管。这种微注射技术可用于显示大鼠的淋巴系统，并可能提供有助于癌症转移研究的进一步信息。
