Endothelial cells play a central role in chronic inflammation: for example, they express adhesion molecules and present chemokines leading to enhanced leukocyte recruitment into tissues. Numerous markers of endothelial cells have been reported but there has been a lack of comparative data on their specificity. The present study compared the specificity of seven endothelial cell markers in the rheumatoid synovium and the colon of patients with Crohn's disease. These markers were: the sulphated epitope MECA-79, the Duffy antigen receptor for chemokines (DARC), von Willebrand factor, CD31 (PECAM-1), CD34, CD105 (endoglin) and CD146. MECA-79, DARC and von Willebrand factor showed a specific endothelial cell distribution. MECA-79, which recognizes sulphated ligands for leukocyte adhesion receptor L-selectin (CD62L), was selective for a subset of venules in highly inflamed tissue and was present in rheumatoid but not control osteoarthritic synovia. DARC was also specific for venules but had a more widespread distribution than MECA-79, and was present in rheumatoid and control synovia. The other markers all labelled endothelial cells in venules, arterioles and capillaries. However, they also localized to other cell types. For example, CD34 stained fibroblasts, CD146 was expressed by the pericytes and smooth muscle cells of vessel walls and CD31 and CD105 labelled a broad range of cell types.

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The aim of this study was a better understanding of the role of the vascular supply as a pathogenic factor in rotator cuff disease. Twenty-five shoulders from unembalmed cadavers were studied after injection of the upper limb aa. with barium sulfate. The predominant arteries were the vessels of the subscapularis m. These branches originated from the axillary a. the anterior circumflex humeral a., and the posterior circumflex humeral a. The supraspinatus m. was supplied by the suprascapular a. but the acromial branch of the thoracoacromial a. supplied the tendon of the supraspinatus. The infraspinatus and teres minor tendons were vascularised by the ascending branches of the posterior circumflex humeral a. The tendon of the long head of the biceps brachii m. was supplied by a branch termed the "arcuate artery" and by a branch we describe derived from the brachial a. at the level of the latissimus dorsi tendon and travelling in a true mesotendon. There is a very real critical zone, with a lesser blood-flow, 1.5 cm from greater tubercle, situated mainly at the supraspinatus tendon. This is a convergence zone of the anterior and posterior circumflex humeral aa., the suprahumeral a. and the thoracoacromial a. The histologic studies confirmed the poor vascularity of this critical zone.

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