Neutrophil dysfunction in the rabbit model of spur cell anemia.

In the rabbit model for spur cell anemia, animals fed a 5% cholesterol diet develop marked hypercholesterolemia and hemolytic spur cell anemia after several weeks on the diet. In vitro tests of granulocytes showed a 15% increase in cholesterol: phospholipid ratio, and decreased membrane fluidity measured with a fluorescent probe. Function tests revealed impairment of adherence, phagocytosis, and chemotaxis. Both a plasma factor and an intrinsic cellular defect appeared to contribute to the abnormal adherence. Bactericidal activity was normal. In vivo demargination in response to epinephrine was increased in animals on the diet, but exudation of granulocytes into sterile peritonitis fluid was diminished to 39.4% of control at 8 hours. Therefore, rabbits with experimental spur cell anemia have impaired in vitro and in vivo granulocyte function. The clinical significance of these findings for patients with spur cell anemia and less severe alcoholic liver disease is uncertain.

Sympathetic nerve fibers in rat orofacial and cerebral tissues as revealed by the HRP-WGA tracing technique: a light and electron microscopic study.

Horseradish peroxidase-wheat germ agglutinin injected into the superior cervical ganglion is taken up by the neuronal perikarya and transported anterogradely in large quantities into peripheral fibers and axonal terminals in a variety of orofacial and cerebral tissues, including the iris, cornea, pineal gland, facial skin and the adventia of cerebral and facial blood vessels. Subsequent histochemical processing according to the tetramethylbenzidine procedure produces a unique, highly visible intraaxonal marker that makes the identification and 3-dimensional tracing of the sympathetic nerve fibers clear and unambiguous at both the light and electron microscopic levels.