Masum Md Abdul, Biswas Subrato, Akter Rupa
Department of Anatomy, Histology and Physiology, Faculty of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Vet Med Sci. 2025 Nov;11(6):e70620. doi: 10.1002/vms3.70620.
Recently, we reported a uniquely developed tertiary lymphoid tissue around the blood vessels and named it vasculature-associated lymphoid tissue (VALT) in nephritis model mouse kidneys. We established the role of VALT in the pathogenesis of kidney disease by providing immune effector cells. However, there are no reports concerning its occurrence in the goat kidney. Therefore, this study was designed to characterize the formation and activity of VALT in goats.
Kidney samples from different goats were grouped into healthy kidney (HK), which showed normal structure, and inflamed kidney (IK), which showed glomerular hypertrophy, hypercellularity, mesangial matrix expansion, adherence of podocytes to parietal cells and tubular dilatation.
Immunohistochemistry revealed infiltrating T cells, B cells and macrophages in both the glomerulus and tubulointerstitium of IK. Furthermore, cell clusters were observed in the perivascular area of the arcuate and interlobular arteries and veins of IK rather than HK, and these clusters were considered VALT. Cell characterization revealed that VALT was composed of T cells, B cells and macrophages and vascularized with numerous high endothelial venules. Juxtaposition of infiltrating lymphocytes and macrophages in VALT suggested possible antigen presentation to lymphocytes in situ. Moreover, the presence of Ki67+ proliferating cells and CD138+ plasma cells in VALT indicated its active immune status.
Therefore, we conclude that VALT develops in goat IK and participates in renal lesion development by providing effector cells.
最近，我们报道了在肾炎模型小鼠肾脏血管周围独特发育的三级淋巴组织，并将其命名为血管相关淋巴组织（VALT）。我们通过提供免疫效应细胞确定了VALT在肾脏疾病发病机制中的作用。然而，尚无关于其在山羊肾脏中出现的报道。因此，本研究旨在描述山羊VALT的形成和活性。
将来自不同山羊的肾脏样本分为结构正常的健康肾脏（HK）组和出现肾小球肥大、细胞增多、系膜基质扩张、足细胞与壁层细胞粘连及肾小管扩张的炎症肾脏（IK）组。
免疫组织化学显示，IK的肾小球和肾小管间质中有T细胞、B细胞和巨噬细胞浸润。此外，在IK而非HK的弓形动脉和小叶间动静脉的血管周围区域观察到细胞簇，这些细胞簇被认为是VALT。细胞表征显示，VALT由T细胞、B细胞和巨噬细胞组成，并由大量高内皮微静脉血管化。VALT中浸润的淋巴细胞和巨噬细胞并列提示可能在原位向淋巴细胞呈递抗原。此外，VALT中Ki67+增殖细胞和CD138+浆细胞的存在表明其处于活跃的免疫状态。
因此，我们得出结论，VALT在山羊IK中发育，并通过提供效应细胞参与肾脏病变的发展。
