Synopsis
The substance produced in adrenomedullary noradrenaline-storing granules after glutaraldehyde fixation was found to have multiple lipid-like histochemical characteristics which can be explained by its broad spectrum of affinity for heavy metals and by its special interactions with certain basic dyes. There was no evidence of any histochemical reaction due to the membrane-incorporated lipids in chromaffin granule membranes.
The reactivity of adrenocortical phospholipids and the non-lipid substance produced by glutaraldehyde in noradrenaline granules has been compared by the post-chromation acid Haematein sequence under different conditions of post-chromation. Two different chromate binding reactions have been observed in glutaraldehyde-fixed noradrenaline granules at two extremes of pH of low temperature post-chromation. One of them can be considered the histochemical equivalent of the electron microscopic method for the selective demonstration of noradrenaline granules. The possible mechanism of nonselective chromate binding of adrenaline-storing granules under different postchromation conditions is also discussed.
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Nemes, Z. The mechanism of false-positive lipid histochemical reactions of glutaraldehyde-fixed rat adrenal medulla. Histochem J 6, 621–632 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01011503
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01011503