The study aimed at detecting apoptotic endothelial cells (ECs) and smooth muscle cells (SMCs) together with determining expression of NF-kappaB (p105/p50) and Bax in varicose vein walls. Women (n = 35) undergoing the excision of varicose veins were divided into 3 groups: younger than 35 years (I), 36–50 years (II), and older than 50 years (III). Apoptosis was determined by the TUNEL method, NF-kappaB and Bax expression by immunohistochemistry. The percentage of apoptotic ECs and SMCs in the layers of varicose vein wall increased in groups II and III. NF-kappaB expression had the lowest level in Group II with particularly low level in the media. Contrariwise, Bax expression levels in Group II were increased. The study revealed that in varicose veins ECs and SMCs apoptosis increased with advancing age. If increase in apoptosis during earlier stages of varicosities is probably regulated by intrinsic pathway, then in older patients other signaling pathways may be involved.
Sepsis, being characterized by massive translocation of bacteria into tissues, induces the suppression of the function of both leukocytes and macrophages. The aim of the study was to count activated macrophages (AMs) and apoptotic (Ao) cells in the rat spleen during the period of experimental sepsis and to clarify the associations of these parameters with each other and with leukocyte migration and bacterial translocation into different organs. The Wistar rats were intraperitoneally inoculated with Escherichia coli (E. coli) and were sacrificed after 2, 6, 24, 48, and 120 h. Bacteria and leukocytes in tissues were specifically stained. AMs were identified by immunohistological staining and Ao cells by the TUNEL assay. The high counts of E. coli at 6 h were strongly associated with a low level of the total counts of leukocytes, accompanied by the high translocation of microbes into tissues. In the spleen, lymphocytes, macrophages, and neutrophils with pyknotic nuclei were identified. The count of AMs was highest at 24 h after the inoculation with E. coli; at the same time the Ao cell count began to rise and achieved the highest level 24 h later. Our investigation indicates that the molecular peculiarities of macrophages and their responses to the inflammation process are tissue-specific. In the spleen the activation process involving hematopoietic cells and macrophages was remarkable at the late stage of sepsis, characterized by a high count of Ao cells.
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