Although one of the earliest findings of diabetic retinopathy is altered capillary permeability, metabolic factors in diabetes that may increase the permeability of capillaries to fluorescein are unknown. We have studied the effect of a variety of vascular and retinal cells and hyperglycemia on the diffusion rate of fluorescein. These studies were performed with a cell culture system that mimics the cross-section of a capillary by having two chambers separated with a porous membrane that can support the growth of cells on either side of the membrane. The addition of a confluent layer of endothelial cells or retinal pigmented epithelial (RPE) cells inhibited fluorescein diffusion between the two chambers 20- and 300-fold, respectively, after cells were cultured for >5 days. Exposure of endothelial cells to 400 mg/dl glucose for either 3 or 100 days did not affect the barrier function of these cells. The barrier function of capillary endothelial cells isolated from BB rats with chronic diabetes and from nondiabetic animals did not differ. In contrast to endothelial cells and RPE cells, arterial smooth muscle and pericytes, which are not known to form tight junctions, did not inhibit the diffusion of fluorescein more than 2-fold. Surprisingly, the dual culture of endothelial cells with either retinal pericytes or smooth muscle cells resulted in a 50-fold increase in the rate of fluorescein diffusion, showing a disruption of the endothelial barrier. In summary, the intercellular connections between endothelial and epithelial cells that are responsible for the barrier to fluorescein diffusion are not functionally affected by chronic exposure to hyperglycemia or diabetic conditions. The interaction between endothelial cells with capillary pericytes is important in maintaining vascular permeability and may be altered in the diabetic state.
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Original Articles|
December 01 1987
Regulation of Vascular Permeability in Cell Culture
George L King;
George L King
Research Division, Joslin Diabetes Center, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School
Boston, Massachusetts
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Audrey B Berman;
Audrey B Berman
Research Division, Joslin Diabetes Center, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School
Boston, Massachusetts
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Susan Bonner-Weir;
Susan Bonner-Weir
Research Division, Joslin Diabetes Center, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School
Boston, Massachusetts
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Mary Pat Carson
Mary Pat Carson
Department of Pathology, Boston University Medical School
Boston, Massachusetts
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Address correspondence and reprint requests to George L. King, MD, Joslin Diabetes Center, One Joslin Place, Boston, MA 02215.
Diabetes 1987;36(12):1460–1467
Article history
Received:
October 22 1986
Revision Received:
April 27 1987
Accepted:
April 27 1987
PubMed:
3678623
Citation
George L King, Audrey B Berman, Susan Bonner-Weir, Mary Pat Carson; Regulation of Vascular Permeability in Cell Culture. Diabetes 1 December 1987; 36 (12): 1460–1467. https://doi.org/10.2337/diab.36.12.1460
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