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Updated: Aug 12, 2026
The Mesenteric Lymph Duct Cannulated Rat Model: Application to the Assessment of Intestinal Lymphatic Drug Transport
Published on: March 6, 2015
Mesenteric lymph duct ligation prevents shock-induced RBC deformability and shape changes
Sergey B Zaets1, Tamara L Berezina, J Caruso
1Department of Surgery, VA New Jersey Healthcare System, East Orange, New Jersey, USA.
Objectives:
The exact mechanisms that lead to RBC deformability and shape changes after trauma/hemorrhagic shock remain unknown. We hypothesize that RBC injury is caused in part by gut injury and is mediated by gut-derived factors carried in the intestinal lymph.
Materials And Methods:
RBC deformability was measured by a laser-assisted ektacytometer before and after trauma/hemorrhagic shock (T/HS) in 6 rats whose mesenteric lymph duct had been ligated and in 10 rats subjected to T/HS without duct ligation. In this assay a decrease in the elongation index is a marker of decreased RBC deformability. RBC shape was examined by scanning electron microscopy.
Results:
In the T/HS rats, the RBC elongation index decreased after T/HS from a preshock value of 0.064 +/- 0.011 to 0.052 +/- 0.009 (P < 0.01) and remained low (0.049 +/- 0.010) even at 3 h after resuscitation. In contrast, the elongation index did not decrease after T/HS in the lymph duct-ligated rats (0.062 +/- 0.004 vs. 0.056 +/- 0.005, P = NS). Likewise, the T/HS rats, but not the duct-ligated T/HS rats, had a significant increase in the percentage of abnormally shaped RBCs when studied by electron microscopy.
Conclusions:
Interruption of lymph flow from the gut into the bloodstream by lymph duct ligation prevents T/HS-induced RBC damage. Because decreased RBC deformability contributes to impaired perfusion of the microcirculation, preservation of RBC deformability may decrease the incidence of T/HS-induced organ dysfunction.
