Intrathrombotic appearances of AQP-1 and AQP-3 in relation to thrombus age in murine deep vein thrombosis model

Aquaporins (AQPs) are membrane-bound proteins for water transportation and are useful for diagnosing drowning and wound vitality in forensic pathology. Here, we examined intrathrombotic expression of AQP-1 and AQP-3 using deep vein thrombosis models in mice. To perform immunohistochemical analyses, we used anti-AQP-1 and anti-AQP-3 antibodies. In thrombus samples with the post-ligation intervals of 1 to 5 days, AQP-1(+) areas were over 70%. At 7 days after the IVC ligation, AQP-1(+) areas became less than 50%, eventually decreasing to 11% at 21 days. At 3 days after the IVC ligation, AQP-3(+) cells started to appear from the peripheral area. Thereafter, the positive cell number progressively increased and reached to a peak at 10 days after the IVC ligation. When the intrathrombotic AQP-1(+) area was as large as the intrathrombotic collagen area or smaller, it would indicate a thrombus age of ≥ 10 days. AQP-3(+) cell number of > 30 would indicate a thrombus age of 10–14 days. Collectively, our study implied that the detection of AQP-1 and AQP-3 would be useful for the determination of thrombus age.