Intravital microscopy in the study of ANCA-associated systemic vasculitis

In addition to being useful clinical markers of systemic vasculitis, anti-neutrophil cytoplasm antibodies (ANCA) may play a role in the initiation of vasculitic injury. These autoantibodies can induce neutrophil degranulation, dysregulated neutrophil apoptosis and neutrophil adhesion to endothelium in static cellular systems. This mini-review will place these sentinel findings in the context of more recent studies using the parallel plate flow chamber and novel animal models of ANCA-associated vasculitis (AASV). Rodent models lend themselves well to investigation of leukocyte endothelial interaction using intravital microscopy. In this way, one can study ANCA-induced leukocyte adhesion/transmigration, and microvascular injury in real time. These studies may then be extended to look at the impact of novel therapeutic agents on these processes.