Click here to close
Hello! We notice that you are using Internet Explorer, which is not supported by Xenbase and may cause the site to display incorrectly.
We suggest using a current version of Chrome,
FireFox, or Safari.
Anat Rec (Hoboken)
2022 Feb 01;3052:243-253. doi: 10.1002/ar.24649.
Show Gene links
Show Anatomy links
Microvascular anatomy of the non-lobulated liver of adult Xenopus laevis: A scanning electron microscopic study of vascular casts.
Lametschwandtner A
,
Spornitz U
,
Minnich B
.
???displayArticle.abstract???
The microvascular anatomy of the non-lobulated liver of adult Xenopus laevis was studied by scanning electron microscopy of vascular corrosion casts. Hepatic portal veins and hepatic arteries entered hepatic lobes at the hiluses, hepatic veins left at these sites. Intraparenchymal, hepatic portal veins branched up to 10 times before terminal portal venules supplied liver sinusoids. Hepatic arteries closely followed portal vessels. Arteriolar side branches formed anastomoses with close by portal venules (arteriolar-portal anastomoses; APAs), liver sinusoids (arteriolar-sinusoidal anastomoses; ASAs), and peribiliary plexus vessels. Distally, hepatic arteries anastomosed with terminal portal venules having >100 μm in diameter. Liver sinusoids formed a dense three-dimensional network displaying signs of non-sprouting and sprouting angiogenesis evidenced by "holes" and blind ending tapering cast vascular structures (sprouts), respectively. Sinusoids drained via efferent hepatic veins. Right and left hepatic veins drained into the posterior caval vein. Locally, a dense honeycomb-like 3D-meshwork of resin structures was found around terminal portal venules and hepatic arteries. These networks were fed by hepatic arterioles and drained into adjacent terminal portal venules. As their morphologies differed significantly from sinusoids and they were found at sites where diffuse lymphoid tissue is described, we are convinced that they represent the vasculature of diffuse lymphoid tissue areas. Frequencies and diameter ratios of hepatic portal venules versus hepatic arterioles anastomosing with the former (APAs) implicate that the arterial supply contributes to the oxygenation of parenchymal and stromal cells rather than to a significant increase in blood flow towards hepatic sinusoids.
FIGURE 1. (1) Whole body vascular cast of adult X. laevis. Ventral view. Stereomicroscopic image. Note different size and shape of right (rl), middle (ml) and left lobe (ll) of the liver. (2) Microvascular anatomy of the liver of adult X. laevis. Vascular corrosion cast (VCC). Scanning electron micrograph. View at the viscero‐pleural surface. Encircled area marks the liver hilus where portal vein (pv) and hepatic artery (ha) approach and the hepatic vein (hv) leaves the liver parenchyma. Inset Serrated margin (arrow) of a right hepatic lobe. VCC. Scanning electron micrograph. (3) Right lobe of the liver of adult X. laevis. Intraparenchymal course and branching patterns of the hepatic portal vein. Ten branching generations (1–10) of the sub‐surface located portal vein are labelled. Superficial sinusoids of the viscero‐pleural surface are removed by microdissection. Note the marginal anastomosis (asterisk) between branches of the hepatic vein (hv). VCC. Scanning electron micrograph. Differentiation of portal venules (pv; blue) from hepatic venules (hv; blue/green) was by the presence of hepatic arterioles (ha) which flanked the former, but lacked in the latter. Inset Right lobe of liver. Viscero‐pleural aspect. VCC. Stereomicroscopic image
FIGURE 2. Spatial arrangement and relations of hepatic portal vein branches (pv), terminal portal venules (tpv), efferent hepatic venules (ehv), hepatic venules (hv) and hepatic arteries/arterioles (ha). Note that parallel running portal vein branches (pv) and branches of the efferent hepatic veins (ehv) are closely spaced. Inset 1 Transitions of sinusoids (s) into an efferent hepatic venule (ehv). Note the tube‐like outlet portions of sinusoids (s) (arrows). Inset 2 Sinusoid (s) draining into a larger hepatic venule (hv)(arrow)
FIGURE 3. Microvascular anatomy of a portal triad consisting of portal vein (pv), hepatic artery (ha) and bile duct (bd). Note the peribiliary plexuses ensheathing fragments of small bile ducts
FIGURE 4. (1) Spruce tree‐like branching pattern of a portal venule (pv). Detail from a transverse sectioned specimen. Note an efferent hepatic venule (ehv) between terminal portal venules (tpv). (2) Vascular pattern of the parieto‐pleural surface of the liver. Note terminal portal venules (tpv, 1) and efferent hepatic venules (ehv, 2). (3) Territory of interconnected sinusoids (encircled area) which drains into an efferent hepatic venule (ehv). (4) Three‐dimensional network of sinusoids (s) displaying blind ending tapered vascular structures (arrows) as signs of ongoing sprouting angiogenesis. Note the close by thin sinusoid (asterisk)
FIGURE 5. (1) Hepatic arteriole (ha) running along a portal venule. Note that the arteriole first gives off a branch to a sinusoid forming an arteriolar‐sinusoidal anastomosis (ASA; small arrow), then two branches to the fellow portal venule forming arteriolar‐portal (venous) anastomoses (APAs; arrowheads) to finally anastomose with the fellow portal venule (large arrow). Inset Short arteriolar‐portal anastomosis (APA). Note the widened inlet portion (arrowhead) and the narrowing of the hepatic arteriole at its origin from the parent hepatic arteriole (arrow). (2) Arteriolar‐portal (APAs) and ASAs. Note spacing and trumpet‐like shape of the arteriolar inlet portions in APAs (arrowheads) and ASAs (arrows). Inset Enlargment of the framed area displaying three closely spaced APAs (arrows). (3) Hepatic arteriole joining a tubular inlet portion of a sinusoid (short arrow). The long arrow points at an arteriole that in this angle of view seems to join the portal venule, but does not do so. This was confirmed by changing the tilting angle during SEM work
FIGURE 6. (1) Microvascular anatomy of a small subcapsular bile duct (bd) located between portal venule (pv) and hepatic arteriole (ha). The peribiliary vascular plexus drains into the portal venule (arrow). Inset Detail (framed area). Note the shallow circular imprint at the inlet site of the efferent peribiliary venules into the portal venule (pv). (2) Microvascular anatomy of a peribiliary vascular plexus of an extraparenchymal bile duct (bd)
FIGURE 7. (1) Honeycomb‐like microvascular meshwork around hepatic venules (hv) and terminal portal venule (tpv) (encircled areas). Asterisk marks “conductive bridge.” (2) Arterial supply of the lymphoid tissue vasculature (arrow). (3) Gradual transition (1–3) of the lymphoid tissue vasculature into sinusoids (s) (large arrows). Note the “holes” indicating non‐sprouting angiogenesis (small arrows)
Aharinejad,
Sphincters in the rat pulmonary veins. Comparison of scanning electron and transmission electron microscopic studies.
1991, Pubmed
Aharinejad,
Sphincters in the rat pulmonary veins. Comparison of scanning electron and transmission electron microscopic studies.
1991,
Pubmed
Akiyoshi,
Comparative histological study of hepatic architecture in the three orders amphibian livers.
2012,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Bond,
Intimal cushions and endothelial nuclear elongation around mouse aortic branches and their spatial correspondence with patterns of lipid deposition.
2010,
Pubmed
Burri,
Intussusceptive angiogenesis: its emergence, its characteristics, and its significance.
2004,
Pubmed
Casellas,
Scanning electron microscopic study of arterial cushions in rats: a novel application of the corrosion-replication technique.
1982,
Pubmed
Chen,
Functional Region Annotation of Liver CT Image Based on Vascular Tree.
2016,
Pubmed
Debbaut,
Analyzing the human liver vascular architecture by combining vascular corrosion casting and micro-CT scanning: a feasibility study.
2014,
Pubmed
Djonov,
Vascular remodeling by intussusceptive angiogenesis.
2003,
Pubmed
Fasel,
Portal venous territories within the human liver: an anatomical reappraisal.
2008,
Pubmed
FOURMAN,
The effect of intra-arterial cushions on plasma skimming in small arteries.
1961,
Pubmed
Geerts,
Hepatic circulation.
2008,
Pubmed
Griffin,
Editorial: Xenopus Models of Organogenesis and Disease.
2020,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Kardon,
Three-dimensional organization of the hepatic microcirculation in the rodent as observed by scanning electron microscopy of corrosion casts.
1980,
Pubmed
Kurz,
Angiogenesis and vascular remodeling by intussusception: from form to function.
2003,
Pubmed
Lametschwandtner,
Scanning electron microscopy of vascular corrosion casts--technique and applications: updated review.
1990,
Pubmed
Lametschwandtner,
Renal microvasculature in the adult pipid frog, Xenopus laevis: A scanning electron microscope study of vascular corrosion casts.
2020,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Lametschwandtner,
On the prevention of specimen charging in scanning electron microscopy of vascular corrosion casts by attaching conductive bridges.
1980,
Pubmed
Lametschwandtner,
Microvascularization of the spleen in larval and adult Xenopus laevis: Histomorphology and scanning electron microscopy of vascular corrosion casts.
2016,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
McCuskey,
Morphological mechanisms for regulating blood flow through hepatic sinusoids.
2000,
Pubmed
McCuskey,
The hepatic microvascular system in health and its response to toxicants.
2008,
Pubmed
Minnich,
Lengths measurements in microvascular corrosion castings: two-dimensional versus three-dimensional morphometry.
2000,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Murakami,
Application of the scanning electron microscope to the study of the fine distribution of the blood vessels.
1971,
Pubmed
Murakami,
Peribiliary portal system in the monkey liver as evidenced by the injection replica scanning electron microscope method.
1974,
Pubmed
Ohtani,
The peribiliary portal system in the rabbit liver.
1979,
Pubmed
Ohtani,
Corrosion casts in liver and stomach microcirculation.
1989,
Pubmed
Ohtani,
Microvasculature as studied by the microvascular corrosion casting/scanning electron microscope method. I. Endocrine and digestive system.
1983,
Pubmed
Patan,
Intussusceptive microvascular growth: a common alternative to capillary sprouting.
1992,
Pubmed
Peeters,
A multilevel framework to reconstruct anatomical 3D models of the hepatic vasculature in rat livers.
2017,
Pubmed
Porro,
Digital dissection of the model organism Xenopus laevis using contrast-enhanced computed tomography.
2017,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Sasse,
Liver architecture.
1992,
Pubmed
Schraufnagel,
Sphincters in pulmonary veins. An anatomic study in rats.
1990,
Pubmed
Spornitz,
Studies on the liver of Xenopus laevis. I. The ultrastructure of the parenchymal cell.
1975,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Spornitz,
Studies on the liver of Xenopus laevis. II. The ultrastructure of the peritoneal cover and the perihepatic layer.
1975,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Weiger,
Technical parameters of plastics (Mercox CL-2B and various methylmethacrylates) used in scanning electron microscopy of vascular corrosion casts.
1986,
Pubmed
Yamamoto,
Three-dimensional observations of the hepatic arterial terminations in rat, hamster and human liver by scanning electron microscopy of microvascular casts.
1985,
Pubmed
