AJP - Heart and Circulatory Physiology, Vol 242, Issue 6 1038-H1043, Copyright © 1982 by American Physiological Society
Effects of increased venous pressure on albumin- and IgG-excluded volumes in skin
D. R. Bell and R. J. Mullins
The effect of increased venous pressure on the exclusion of plasma albumin
and gamma-immunoglobulin G (IgG) in skin interstitium was studied in
anesthetized rabbits. In eight rabbits, venous pressure in the left leg was
increased from 7 to 26 mmHg, while the right leg served as a control.
Samples of plasma and prenodal popliteal lymph were collected for 4 h
before taking samples of heel skin. The extracellular and plasma spaces in
the tissue samples were measured using 51Cr-labeled
ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and 125I-labeled human serum
albumin, respectively. The protein spaces were calculated from measurements
of endogenous albumin and IgG concentrations using rocket
electroimmunoassay. For control skin, albumin and IgG were both excluded
from 50% of the interstitial space. The interstitial space after venous
congestion was increased 1.4 times control. There was a washout of
interstitial albumin and no change in the albumin-excluded volume fraction.
For IgG, there was no change in the extravascular mass and a decrease in
the excluded volume fraction. Changes in the interstitial gel matrix of
skin were different from those in visceral organs and consistent with a
greater amount of collagen.
