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Quantitative Assessment of Capillary Permeability in Deep Intracardiac Capillaries Using Fluorescent Dextran
Mio Nakamura1,2, Yurika Yoshida-Kikkawa1, Kousuke Sugiura1
1Research team for Aging Science (Vascular Medicine), Tokyo Metropolitan Institute for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Sakaecho, Itabashi-ku, Japan.
Insights
Researchers developed a novel method to assess cardiac capillary permeability by tracking fluorescent markers deep within heart tissue, aiding in understanding heart disease risk.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Biology
- Microcirculation Research
- Biomedical Imaging
Background:
- Cardiac capillary dysfunction is linked to decreased cardiac function and increased disease risk.
- Existing methods lack the ability to evaluate material exchange in deep cardiac capillaries.
- Assessing capillary leakage is crucial for understanding heart health and disease progression.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a novel method for detecting and quantifying capillary permeability in deep cardiac tissue.
- To establish a quantitative index for evaluating the functional status of intracardiac microvessels.
- To provide new insights into factors affecting cardiac function decline and disease risk.
Main Methods:
- Administration of fluorescent dextran to mice via tail vein.
- Rapid processing of cardiac tissue followed by fluorescence imaging.
- Quantitative image analysis using LAS X and ImageJ to measure diffusion areas of leaked fluorescent material.
Main Results:
- Successfully detected leaking fluorescent material from intracardiac microvessels.
- Quantified capillary permeability by calculating the area of fluorescence diffusion.
- Established a novel index for assessing deep cardiac capillary leakage.
Conclusions:
- The developed method enables evaluation of capillary permeability deep within cardiac tissue.
- This technique offers a new perspective on cardiac homeostasis and disease mechanisms.
- Capillary-to-cell exchange, assessed by molecular diffusion, serves as a key indicator of tissue function.
Abstract:
When the function of cardiac capillaries is impaired, cardiac function declines, and the risk of disease increases. No reliable assay has been developed to detect or evaluate the level of material exchange of capillaries deep within healthy heart tissue. In this study, we develop a new method to detect and evaluate molecules leaking from capillaries in cardiac tissue. By administering fluorescent dextran to mice via the tail vein, followed by rapid processing of the heart tissue, we have detected leaking fluorescent material from intracardiac microvessels. By comparing the detected images with those taken during the negative-control administration, using the image processing software LAS X and ImageJ, we detected trace amounts of fluorescent material that had leaked from the capillaries. We calculated the area of tissue where fluorescence was detected to perform a quantitative assessment, which we used as an indicator of capillary permeability. This new method of indexing will provide a different perspective on the factors contributing to the decline in cardiac function and the increased risk of disease with aging. Key features • A method to evaluate the permeability function of capillaries deep within healthy cardiac tissue has been developed using the diffusion area of a leaked fluorescent marker. • Evaluating the permeability function of deep tissues with dense capillary networks provides a foothold for elucidating the mechanisms of organ homeostasis, both maintenance and deterioration. • The diffusion of molecules into organs via capillary-to-cell exchange is an indicator of tissue function.
