Distribution of intravascularly injected lanthanum ions in ganglia of the autonomic nervous system of the rat.

Intravascular injection of lanthanum revealed that tight junctions of capillaries in sympathetic ganglia are impermeable to small ions and thus behave like capillaries of the blood-brain barrier. The failure of lanthanum to accumulate in the extracellular space suggests that fenestrated capillaries are not as ion-permeable as use of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) by some authors has indicated. A possible toxic action associated with high concentrations of HRP may be responsible for the high permeability of this substance. Testing with lanthanum demonstrated that sympathetic ganglia possess anatomic features that provide a hematic barrier. The blood-ganglion barrier resembles, but has not yet been demonstrated to be as absolute as the blood-brain barrier.