Comparative histochemical and electron microscopic studies of the sinus and venous walls of the human spleen with special reference to the sinus-venous connections

Summary

Sinus and venous walls of normal human spleens were studied with enzyme histochemical and electron microscopic methods. Particular attention was paid to the connections between sinuses and veins. Histochemically the sinus lining cells revealed a distinct naphthol-AS-acetate-esterase activity but no reaction for alkaline phosphatase. Venous endothelial cells were positive for the latter but negative for the former enzyme. In the sinusvenous junctional area there were no endothelial cells with reactivity for both enzymes. Electron microscopically both the sinus lining cells and the venous endothelial cells could be clearly characterized and therefore easily distinguished from one another on morphological grounds. There were no clear ultrastructural indications of transitional forms between sinus lining cells and venous endothelial cells in the sinus-venous area. According to these findings, sinus lining cells represent a specialized endothelium, but one with practically no morpholgical similarities to the venous endothelium.