[Study of the microcirculatory bed in inflammation by the method of automatic image analysis]

Peritonitis in rats was provoked by intraperitoneal injection of carrageenan (5 mg in 5 ml 0.9% NaCl). Twenty-four hours after injection microvessels of the intestinal mesentery were examined by intravital microscopy and automatic image analysis. Using the system of the texture analysis LEITZ-TAS the internal and external diameters of microvessels, the dilatation coefficient, the blood content index, intensity and extent of permeability disturbances of the vascular wall, and the number of mast cells per unit of the mesentery surface area were determined. During inflammation, the internal diameter of the capillaries increased from 6.6 + 2 to 7.4 + 0.2 microM and that of the venules from 15.2 + 0.9 to 18.8 + 1.1 microM. Dilatation of the arterioles was revealed by the dilatation coefficient which changed from 25 + 1.0 to 19 + 1.1%. At the same time the blood content index did not change significantly. During inflammation, the number of mast cells decreased 2.53 times as a result of degranulation. Permeability of the microvascular wall increased sharply (the intensity by 2.74 times, the extent by 15.3 times). The method applied enables one to obtain under intravital conditions a quantitative description of the microcirculatory status during inflammation.