Spontaneous leukocyte rolling in venules in untraumatized skin of conscious and anesthetized animals

Intravital bright-field videomicroscopy was used to investigate whether leukocyte rolling can be observed under normal physiological conditions. We studied skin venules in trained conscious rats and anesthetized rats and mice without touching the skin itself. Leukocyte rolling was spontaneously present in all hindpaw venules of Lewis rats (diam 8-27 microns) and also in all mouse ear venules (Swiss, 13-38 microns; BALB/c, 12-56 microns). Rolling levels (in leukocytes/min, median and range) were 8 (3-15) in conscious rats, 9 (3-19) in anesthetized rats, 30 (5-160) in anesthetized Swiss mice, and 10 (3-22) in anesthetized BALB/c mice. These levels appeared to be independent of time. Noninvasive mechanical stimulation induced an average increase of 32%. Fluorescent labeling of leukocytes in vivo with acridine orange had no influence. In Swiss mice, the rolling velocity was < 50 microns/s for > 75% of the leukocytes (median 31 microns/s); this parameter did not correlate with reduced velocity (17-68 s-1) and hence wall shear rate. Our finding that leukocyte rolling is spontaneously present in skin venules of anesthetized and conscious animals suggests a constant vigilance of the host defense mechanisms in the skin.