Comparison of lectin reactivity in the vessel beds of the rat eye

The capillary beds of the eye are lined by two types of endothelia, fenestrated in the choriocapillaris and ciliary body, and continuous in the retina and iris. In this study, we wished to find a marker for each of these types of vessel beds using lectin histochemistry. Sections of glutaraldehyde fixed rat eyes embedded in epoxy resin were extracted with sodium ethoxide and rehydrated. Binding of 15 different lectins was visualized using the avidin-biotin peroxidase technique. We found WGA, WGA-s, LFA and PHA-E to strongly bind retinal vessels. In addition to the above lectins, iris vessels bound GSL-I. Choriocapillaris reacted variably only with WGA and not at all with other lectins tested. Vessels of ciliary body processes did not react with any lectin studied. The less fenestrated vessels of the base of the ciliary process bound lectins similar to the retina. We speculate that the differential lectin staining of the various vessel beds of the eye may reflect the degree of fenestration of the endothelium. This reactivity may be influenced by variations in the surrounding milieu including cells and extracellular matrix.