[The microcirculatory system and smooth muscle cells of major arteries in various rheumatic diseases]

The microcirculatory bed (MCB) and smooth muscle cells (SMC) of the main arteries were examined in subjects who had died from rheumatic disease (33 cases), systemic lupus erythematosus (n = 28), and systemic sclerosis (n = 8) at the age of 12 to 69 years. Adventitial film preparations impregnated with silver nitrate by the method of Kupriyanov and other techniques were applied to comparatively characterize pathological and adaptive changes in MCB of vasa vasorum. In each disease, there were impaired smooth cells along with formed SMC deficit that was mostly pronounced in lupus. The medial SMC were shown to contribute to the degradation of the basic substance and reparative and synthetic processes. It was found that the immune complexes might be accepted both by the vasa vasorum system and the luminal surface of large arteries.