Quantification of cerebrospinal fluid transport across the cribriform plate into lymphatics in rats

G Nagra, L Koh, A Zakharov… - American Journal of …, 2006 - journals.physiology.org
G Nagra, L Koh, A Zakharov, D Armstrong, M Johnston
American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and …, 2006journals.physiology.org
A major pathway by which cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is removed from the cranium is
transport through the cribriform plate in association with the olfactory nerves. CSF is then
absorbed into lymphatics located in the submucosa of the olfactory epithelium (olfactory
turbinates). In an attempt to provide a quantitative measure of this transport, 125I-human
serum albumin (HSA) was injected into the lateral ventricles of adult Fisher 344 rats. The
animals were killed at 10, 20, 30, 40, and 60 min after injection, and tissue samples …
A major pathway by which cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is removed from the cranium is transport through the cribriform plate in association with the olfactory nerves. CSF is then absorbed into lymphatics located in the submucosa of the olfactory epithelium (olfactory turbinates). In an attempt to provide a quantitative measure of this transport, 125I-human serum albumin (HSA) was injected into the lateral ventricles of adult Fisher 344 rats. The animals were killed at 10, 20, 30, 40, and 60 min after injection, and tissue samples, including blood (from heart puncture), skeletal muscle, spleen, liver, kidney, and tail were excised for radioactive assessment. The remains were frozen. To sample the olfactory turbinates, angled coronal tissue sections anterior to the cribriform plate were prepared from the frozen heads. The average concentration of 125I-HSA was higher in the middle olfactory turbinates than in any other tissue with peak concentrations achieved 30 min after injection. At this point, the recoveries of injected tracer (percent injected dose/g tissue) were 9.4% middle turbinates, 1.6% blood, 0.04% skeletal muscle, 0.2% spleen, 0.3% liver, 0.3% kidney, and 0.09% tail. The current belief that arachnoid projections are responsible for CSF drainage fails to explain some important issues related to the pathogenesis of CSF disorders. The rapid movement of the CSF tracer into the olfactory turbinates further supports a role for lymphatics in CSF absorption and provides the basis of a method to investigate the novel concept that diseases associated with the CSF system may involve impaired lymphatic CSF transport.
American Physiological Society