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American Journal of Pathology, Vol 134, 1213-1226, Copyright © 1989 by American Society for Investigative Pathology

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Leukocyte migration in synovial tissue. Leukocyte distribution, orientation, and migratory pattern after immune complex deposition in rabbit knee joints

P Thomsen and LE Ericson
Department of Anatomy, University of Goteborg, Gothenburg, Sweden.

Complement-activating bovine serum albumin (BSA)-anti-BSA immune complexes (ICs) were injected into rabbit knee joint cavities; the contralateral control joint was injected with BSA together with normal rabbit serum. The migration of leukocytes from the synovial venules into the joint cavity was analyzed with light microscopy (LM), scanning (SEM) and transmission (TEM) electron microscopy. EM autoradiography was used to study the endocytosis of ICs by leukocytes. The shape, orientation, and distribution of migrating polymorphonuclear granulocytes (PMNGs) were analyzed by LM morphometry. PMNGs accumulated in the joints injected with ICs. The peak of the number of PMNGs in the synovial tissue was reached after 4 hours, in the joint cavity after 6 hours. PMNGs in the synovial tissue were concentrated in the intimal layer. Migrating PMNGs were polarized, as judged by the ratio between the long (D max) and short (D min) axes of the cells. There was a close association between the migrating PMNGs and the collagen fibers. The morphometric data showed that the nonflattened, cylindrically-shaped PMNGs were oriented along the collagen bundles, running parallel to the synovial surface, and did not migrate in the straight direction of a theoretic leukotactic gradient originating in the joint cavity after IC deposition. SEM and TEM showed that the PMNGs were aligned along the collagen fibers and interacted activity with the collagen by pseudopods and cytoplasmic projections. EM autoradiography showed that the PMNGs in the joint cavity had ingested 125I-labeled ICs and were degranulated. In contrast, the PMNGs within the synovial membrane did not show any signs of IC endocytosis or any apparent degranulation. Synovial type A cells were found to contain ICs. This study indicates that the response of PMNGs in IC-induced synovitis consists of two distinct phases: an initial, mainly migratory phase in the synovial membrane where the PMNGs appear to use the collagen fibres as a climbing framework, and a second phase, in the joint cavity, characterized by PMNG metabolic activation, endocytosis of ICs, and degranulation. The apparent inability of PMNGs in the synovial membrane to ingest ICs and become degranulated might be due to not only concentration differences of ICs and leukotactic factors between the joint cavity and the synovial tissue but also might be related to the apparently active interaction with collagen.