Acid phosphatase distribution in the trigeminal ganglion of the rat.

Abstract

AbstractLocalization of acid phosphatase in trigeminal ganglia of vascularly perfused, young, Wistar rats was demonstrated by Gomori's lead sulfide and Barka and Anderson's azo dye methods. Differences in deposition of reaction product, indicating differences in levels of enzyme activity, were demonstrated between small, intensely reactive (dark) neurons and larger, less reactive (light) neurons. Lengthening the fixation time to lessen the likelihood of artifactual origin of such differences resulted in a decreased reaction in all neurons; relative difference in intensity of large and small neurons was retained. The results indicate that the level of detectable acid phosphatase activity is an additional distinguishing feature between light and dark cells in trigeminal ganglia of the rat and suggest that differences between these cells are not artifactual.