Summary
Adult albino rats were given single intraperitoneal injections of dithizone in doses from 50 to 200 mg per kg body weight. After intervals of 5 minutes to 28 days, the animals were killed by vascular perfusion with buffered sodium suifide. Cryostat sections of the brains were prepared and stained according to Timm's procedure.
The dithizone treatment after appropriate doses and time intervals virtually prevented the sulfide silver staining of the mossy fiber system and most other parts of the neuropil in the forebrain. The staining of cytoplasmic granules normally associated with neuronal somata throughout the brain, of capillaries, ependyma, and choroid plexus was not unequivocally affected.
The results support the idea that the sulfide silver staining throughout most of the forebrain neuropil is due to the presence of metals. The failure of the dithizone treatment to prevent the staining of other parts of the sulfide silver pattern is briefly discussed.
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This study was supported in part by U.S.P.H. S. Grant NS 07998. This aid is gratefully acknowledged. — We thank Professor Th. W. Blackstad for encouragement and advice on the manuscript. — Thorkild Nielsen, Birgit Örum, Albert Meier, Inger Madsen, and Karin Sörensen rendered valuable technical assistance.
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Haug, F.M.Š., Danscher, G. Effect of intravital dithizone treatment on the timm sulfide silver pattern of rat brain. Histochemie 27, 290–299 (1971). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00305330
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00305330