Synopsis
The reactivity of neurolysosomes towards conditions of stress was studied by means of Bitensky's lysosomal permeability test, based on the histochemistry of acid phosphatase. The material used was anterior brain (cortex, Ammon horn, thalamus and hypothalamus) of animals subjected to different forms of stress (physical effort, gravitational acceleration, hyperthermia and emotional stress).
The common alterations observed in most neurons were: a reduction in the minimal incubation time required for the histoenzymological reaction for acid phosphatase to become positive; an increase in the number and size of the reaction granules in the perikaryons; the tendency of the granules to conglomerate and their aggregation towards the emergence cone of the nervous processes; the induction of a positive reaction along the neural fibres and their migration towards the synapses and the vascular walls. Intense stress led to an intracytoplasmic diffuse reaction. Very intense stress resulted in a decreased or negative intraneural reaction, consequent to an intrahumoral release of the enzyme.
These alterations appear to be due to the increased lability of the neuronal lysosomes, which thus seem to play an important role in the pathogenic mechanism of stress.
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Gabrielescu, E. The lability of lysosomes during the response of neurons to stress. Histochem J 2, 123–130 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01003539
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01003539