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Updated: Jul 17, 2026
In vivo Measurement of the Mouse Pulmonary Endothelial Surface Layer
Published on: February 22, 2013
Dose- and time-dependent liquid sclerosant effects on endothelial cell death
Shunji Kobayashi1, Steven Crooks, David M Eckmann
1Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan.
Background:
Intravenous sclerotherapy solutions can induce endothelial cell death.
Objective:
The objective was to determine the relationship between sclerosant concentration and minimum contact time required for in endothelial cell death.
Methods:
Cultured bovine aortic endothelial cells were exposed to a broad range of concentrations of two liquid sclerosants, polidocanol and sodium tetradecyl sulfate. Fluorescence microscopy was used to study cells using dyes specifically indicating changes in intracellular calcium levels, nitric oxide production, and loss of cell membrane integrity after sclerosant exposure. Fluorescence intensity measurements were used to identify the timing of cell death.
Results:
Calcium signaling and nitric oxide pathways were activated by the administration of the sclerosants and were followed by cell death. The time to the activation and the cell death was dependent on the concentration of sclerosants. At 0.3% polidocanol or 0.1% sodium tetradecyl sulfate, cell death occurred within 15 minutes. At less than 0.003% polidocanol and at 0.005% sodium tetradecyl sulfate, cells remained alive after 60 minutes.
Conclusion:
Both sclerosants rapidly led to cell death at sufficiently high concentrations. At low sclerosant concentrations, cell viability was maintained beyond the recording time of the experiment. The timing of endothelial cell death is predictable based on sclerosant concentration during exposure.
