Summary
Carotid bodies of adult rat were studied under normal conditions and after pargyline-induced monoamineoxidase inhibition. Formaldehyde-induced fluorescence method was used for histochemical demonstration of catecholamines and glutaraldehyde-OsO4 fixation for electron microscopy. Intensely fluorescent granules were observed in the cytoplasm of the glomus cells, which also exhibited a weak diffuse fluorescence. The intense, yellow, fluorescence was greatly increased after pargyline treatment. The number of the granular vesicles was also markedly increased after parglyline treatment, after which some of them had a highly electron dense core, some of them having a much less electron dense one. The amount of the rough-surfaced endoplasmic reticulum was not increased after pargyline treatment. Thus, the effect of pargyline on the carotid body glomus cells is different from that of glucocorticoids, which propably increase catecholamines bound in the endoplasmic reticulum.
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Head: Prof. Olavi Eränkö, M.D, Ph.D.
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Korkala, O. Histochemical and ultrastructural observations on catecholamine storage in the carotid body of normal and pargyline-treated rats. Anat Embryol 146, 133–140 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00315590
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00315590