Modification of lymph during passage through the lymph node: effect of histamine.

The possibility that histamine may cause the fluid and protein content of lymph to be altered during passage through the lymph node was evaluated using the canine perfused popliteal lymph node preparation. This preparation enables nodal perfusion via an afferent lymphatic (all other afferents are ligated) with artificial lymph of known composition and collection of the total efferent effluent for analysis of potential changes in volume and composition. In 11 dogs, the node was perfused at an average flow rate of 0.229 ml/min with artificial lymph containing 3.71 g/100 ml albumin. Under base-line conditions, there was no significant modification of the lymph as it passed through the node. The addition of histamine to the infusate (2-4 micrograms base/ml) caused the efferent lymph flow to increase to 0.295 ml/min (35.3% increases, P less than 0.05), the efferent protein concentration to increase to 4.32 g/100 ml (15.2% increases, P less than 0.05), and the efferent protein flux to increase from 8.40 to 12.86 mg/min (58.0% increases, P less than 0.05). The appearance of Evans blue dye-tagged protein and plasma protein fractions, not originally present in the lymph, in the efferent lymph at this time further indicated that the source of the added fluid and protein was the nodal vasculature. Mass balance calculations indicated that the addition of a fluid with a protein concentration of approximately 90% that of plasma to the lymph could account for the observed increases in efferent lymph flow and protein concentration.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)