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Damlasu Altınöz, Tevriz Dilan Demir, İlke Ali Gürses, Gülnihal Özcan, Safiye Çavdar
Abstract
The lymphatic vessels (LVs) contribute to tissue homeostasis and function by facilitating the clearance of excess fluid and macromolecules from the interstitial tissue of the brain. Various routes for the extracranial transport of LV drainage from the brain parenchyma to the deep cervical lymph nodes were described. The purpose of current research is to show the presence, distribution, and average diameter of LVs accompanying the two arteries supplying the human brain tissue: internal carotid (ICA) and vertebral (VA) arteries in humans. The ICA and VA tissue samples were obtained from 3 human cadavers and 3 autopsy cases. The 5μm thick transverse paraffin sections were immunohistochemically (IHC) stained with podoplanin (PDPN, lymphatic endothelial marker) and CD31 (vascular endothelial marker) and counterstained with hematoxylin. The same tissue samples from 3 autopsies were evaluated for PDPN protein expression using Western blotting. The IHC results show the presence of PDPN-positive LVs accompanying ICA and VA, while the Western blot data confirm the IHC results. There was a correlation between the diameters of the arteries and the LVs that accompanied arteries. The average diameters of LV along the ICA (40 μm- 3.6 mm) were higher than the ones accompanying the VA (11- 256 μm). Furthermore, we observed the presence of fluid channels (FC) around the LVs in varying diameters (44- 78 μm) and densities. The knowledge of extracranial transport of brain lymphatics may help understand the pathophysiology of various neurological diseases.