Fig. 4: Capillary Damage during Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (SIRS)
With the production of large amounts of proinflammatory cytokines, neutrophils adhere to capillary walls in massive amounts. Chemokines cause neutrophils to release proteases and toxic oxygen radicals, the same chemicals they use to kill microbes, but these toxic chemicals are now being dumped onto the vascular endothelial cells to which the neutrophils have adhered during diapedesis. This results in damage to the capillary walls and leakage of blood.

Illustration ofCapillary Damage during Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (SIRS) .jpg by Gary E. Kaiser, Ph.D.
Professor of Microbiology, The Community College of Baltimore County, Catonsville Campus
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at https://cwoer.ccbcmd.edu/science/microbiology/index_gos.html.

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Last updated: August, 2019
Please send comments and inquiries to Dr. Gary Kaiser