%0 Journal Article
%T Evidence for reduced lymphatic CSF absorption in the H-Tx rat hydrocephalus model
%A Matthias Rammling
%A Meenu Madan
%A Leena Paul
%A Babak Behnam
%A Jogi V Pattisapu
%J Fluids and Barriers of the CNS
%D 2008
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1743-8454-5-15
%X We compared the nasal lymphatic pathway in congenital Hydrocephalus-Texas (H-Tx) rats in unaffected and affected hydrocephalic (HC) siblings with that of control Sprague Dawley (SD) rat pups. The animals were examined after immediate post mortem injection of Evan's blue dye into the cisterna magna at 6 and 10 days of age. The specimens were evaluated for amount of dye penetration into the nasal passages.We found more dye visualization in the olfactory regions of control SD (14/16 at P6, 14/16 at P10) and unaffected H-Tx (13/17 at P6, 13/16 at P10) compared with HC animals (0/14 at P6, 3/15 at P10). This difference was more pronounced at 10 days of age. The dye was not visualized in the cervical lymph nodes or venous channels in these acute experiments.The results of this study suggest that nasal lymphatic cerebrospinal fluid absorption is reduced in the H-Tx rat hydrocephalus model.Hydrocephalus is a lifelong condition of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) imbalance, leading to seizures, neurological and cognitive dysfunction, or death if left untreated. The condition is not a single pathologic entity, nor is it a simple, well-defined disease process; rather, it encompasses a diverse group of clinical situations sharing a common feature of increased intracranial pressure (ICP) resulting from an imbalance of CSF secretion and absorption. A better understanding of these as yet undiagnosed mechanisms may offer therapeutic options for rebalancing CSF dynamics before fluid accumulation occurs.We must reconsider the conventional wisdom that primary CSF absorption occurs through the arachnoid granulations, since there is limited evidence concerning fibrosis or anatomic obstruction at these sites in hydrocephalus [1-4]. Yet there is increasing evidence for communication between the CSF pathways and the extracranial lymphatic system, mostly by the nasal lymphatics or the optic nerve sheath into the facial venous system, elegantly described by Johnston et al to be functional in most m
%U http://www.fluidsbarrierscns.com/content/5/1/15