Summary
Adult albino rats were given dithizone by repeated intraperitoneal injections followed by a standard test dose. After a standard interval of 15 or 60 minutes the animals were killed by vascular perfusion with a buffered acidified formaldehyde solution. The brains were immediately removed, frozen, and cut at a constant thickness of 160 microns on a freezing microtome.
The red stain of metal dithizonate known to be particularly marked in the hippocampal mossy fibre system was observed and recorded by a technique based on photography of sections. It was found that dithizone in doses of 25 mg per kg body weight, injected hourly for 12 hours prevented the dithizone staining of the mossy fibre system caused by the test dose in control animals. The result is interpreted as evidence of true depletion of metal.
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This study was supported in part by U.S.P.H.S. Grant NS 07998. This aid is gratefully acknowledged. Einar Hansen, Thorkild Nielsen, Birgit Örum, Albert Meier, Karin Sörensen and Inger Madsen rendered valuable technical assistance.
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Danscher, G., Haug, F.M.Š. Depletion of metal in the rat hippocampal mossy fibre system by intravital chelation with dithizone. Histochemie 28, 211–219 (1971). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00305675
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00305675