[Studies on the damage of the cultured endothelial cells and K-562 cells by sclerosants (ethanolamine oleate, Aethoxysklerol and absolute ethanol) used in the treatment of esophageal varices].

In injection sclerotherapy against esophageal varices, the damage of the endothelial cells of varices has been supposed to be most important for the formation of thrombi in the injected varices. Mechanisms of the destructive action of three sclerosants (ethanolamine oleate [EO], Aethoxysklerol [AS] & absolute ethanol [Et]) on endothelial cells of varices were studied by means of observation of morphological change of the cells and 51Cr release from the cells in a contact with these sclerosants using cultured human endothelial cells and culture cell line K-562 as target cells. Main mechanism for destructive action of EO on the endothelial cells was considered to be cytolysis through injury of cell membrane, since the cells disappeared immediately after addition of EO with marked release of 51Cr. The destructive action of AS on endothelial cells was considered to be mild cytolysis, since moderate destruction of the cells and moderate release of 51Cr were induced with AS. On the other hand, Et showed a fixative-destructive action on the cells without marked morphological change and with little release of 51Cr. Therefore, it was considered that EO and AS caused the damage of endothelial cells through their lytic action of the cell membrane, whereas Et caused it through the fixative action of the cell membrane.