Periodic Acid Schiff Positive Substances Research Articles

Immunotactoid glomerulopathy characterized by steroid-responsive massive subendothelial deposition

We report a case of immunotactoid glomerulopathy with unique histologic findings in serial biopsies. A 73-year-old man complained of developing general edema. Laboratory data on admission presented moderate renal dysfunction with nephrotic syndrome. There was no evidence of systemic disease that might cause secondary glomerulopathy. Light microscopy of the renal specimen revealed lobulation of glomerular tufts and massive endothelial deposition of hyaline-like periodic acid–Schiff–positive substance with neutrophilic infiltration. The deposits were positive for immunoglobulin by immunohistochemical stains but negative for Congo red stain. Electron microscopy disclosed the deposition of microtubular structure (60 nm in diameter) predominantly in the subendothelial area and to some extent in the subepithelial and mesangial areas. Some of the tubules were extremely large (100 to 130 nm in diameter) and displayed a unique scroll structure in cross-section. The patient was treated with two sessions of plasma exchange and subsequent oral prednisolone (30 mg/d). Proteinuria and renal dysfunction improved significantly in the following 2 months. Second and third renal biopsies revealed disappearance of the deposit along with the improvement of proteinuria and renal dysfunction. Because similar microtubular structures were found in neutrophils in the glomerulus as well as in the urinary sediment, phagocytosis was suggested as a possible mechanism for removal of the deposit.

Immunotactoid glomerulopathy characterized by steroid-responsive massive subendothelial deposition

<h2>Abstract</h2> We report a case of immunotactoid glomerulopathy with unique histologic findings in serial biopsies. A 73-year-old man complained of developing general edema. Laboratory data on admission presented moderate renal dysfunction with nephrotic syndrome. There was no evidence of systemic disease that might cause secondary glomerulopathy. Light microscopy of the renal specimen revealed lobulation of glomerular tufts and massive endothelial deposition of hyaline-like periodic acid–Schiff–positive substance with neutrophilic infiltration. The deposits were positive for immunoglobulin by immunohistochemical stains but negative for Congo red stain. Electron microscopy disclosed the deposition of microtubular structure (60 nm in diameter) predominantly in the subendothelial area and to some extent in the subepithelial and mesangial areas. Some of the tubules were extremely large (100 to 130 nm in diameter) and displayed a unique scroll structure in cross-section. The patient was treated with two sessions of plasma exchange and subsequent oral prednisolone (30 mg/d). Proteinuria and renal dysfunction improved significantly in the following 2 months. Second and third renal biopsies revealed disappearance of the deposit along with the improvement of proteinuria and renal dysfunction. Because similar microtubular structures were found in neutrophils in the glomerulus as well as in the urinary sediment, phagocytosis was suggested as a possible mechanism for removal of the deposit.

Non-neoplastic lesions of female virgin Han:NMRI mice, incidence and influence of food restriction throughout life span. I: Thyroid

A life span study with 900 female virgin Han:NMRI mice (300 outbred controls, 300 of a fat subline and 300 of a lean subline) was carried out to determine the occurrence of spontaneous disease with ad libitum or restricted feeding. The major age-dependent non-neoplastic alteration of the thyroid was a cystic distension of the ultimobranchial bodies (up to 90% in the oldest age groups). Most of the severely cystic thyroids were found in animals of the fat sublines and development seemed to be slightly delayed by food restriction. The cyst walls were composed of ciliated and non-ciliated granular or highly attenuated cells. The cysts contained Alcian blue and periodic acid Schiff positive substances.

Histochemical evidence for lipoidal material in secretory granules of rat salivary glands.

The granules of parotid acinar cells and submandibular granular tubule cells of rats contain one or more periodic acid-Schiff positive substances that are extracted during fixation with lipid solvents or acidic solutions or if frozen sections are stained in aqueous solutions. The granules in these cells can be stained by Schmorl's reaction, Luxol Fast Blue and a permanganate-Aldehyde Fuchsin sequence. The results obtained with these stains after a variety of fixation procedures strongly suggest that the secretory granules of these two cell types contain several components and that in parotid acinar and submandibular granular tubule cells, at least one of these components is a lipoidal substance.

GLUCOSE-6-PHOSPHATE DEHYDROGENASE ACTIVITY IN THE SUBCOMMISSURAL ORGAN OF RATS. A HISTOCHEMICAL STUDY.

The subcommissural organ (SCO) of rats shows a striking activity of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase. The histochemical distribution pattern of this enzyme in the SCO was not appreciably altered by an increased sodium intake, by deprivation of drinking water or by Pitressin tannate injections. {Endocrinology 76: 996,1965) I THE adult rat the subcommissural organ (SCO) consists of tall columnar cells that line the antero-inferior surface of the posterior cerebral commissure. These elongated cells are continuous with the ependymal cells lining the third ventricle and cerebral aqueduct. Generally, they are considered to be modified ependymal cells. The SCO produces a periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) positive substance (1-4) that stains selectively deep purple with Gomori's chrome alum-hematoxylin-phloxine, a tinctorial property which is shared by the neurosecretory substance within the hypothalamus and neurohypophysis (1-5). Gilbert found that the PAS positive substance in the SCO has hormonal properties that are destroyed by dilute acetic acid or by shaking with ether (6). In a series of investigations Gilbert has shown that microcoagulation of the SCO in rats caused an immediate and persistent fall in water consumption, resulting in death within a few days. He has also demonstrated that saline extracts of SCO injected into normal rats cause a rapid fall in water consumption over the succeeding 24 hr, presumably due to increased conservation of fluid and electrolyte at the renal level (7). On the basis of Received December 9, 1964. This study was supported by Research Grant NB 04155-03 of the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Blindness, USPHS. 1 Reprint requests should be addressed to Dr. K. Balogh, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston 14, Mass. 2 Summer Trainee (1964) under National Institute of Health Training Grant 1 S01-FR5381-01. these findings, Gilbert has postulated that the SCO might participate in the regulation of body fluid volume. In a later experiment he showed that the amount of PAS positive material in the SCO varied with the state of hydration of the rats (8). Palkovits and Fbldvari have demonstrated that the SCO extracts produce a decrease in diuresis (9) and in the urinary Na/K ratio. More recently, they also found an increase in the intestinal resorption of Na and water following intravenous injection of SCO homogenates (10). The apparent hormonal function of this organ prompted us to investigate the effects of hydration and dehydration on the activity of certain enzymes in the SCO as demonstrated by histochemical techniques. The present communication reports the findings of this study on the SCO of normal and experimentally manipulated rats. Materials and Methods Twenty-four 3to 4-week old white male rats were used. All animals were allowed to feed on a standard laboratory diet. They were exposed daily to 12 hr of artificial light and 12 hr of darkness. In 4 rats dehydration was accomplished by replacing the drinking water with a 2.5 % saline solution for 13 days. Four other animals were dehydrated by depriving them of all drinking water for 6 days. Overhydration was achieved in 4 rats by injecting intramuscularly 1 ml of Pitressin tannate in oil (5 pressor units) every other day for 6 days. These, as well as 12 control animals, had free access to drinking water. The animals were decapitated under light ether 3 Parke, Davis & Co., Detroit 32, Michigan.

Periodic acid-Schiff positive component of the medullary bone of the laying dometic fowl.

INVESTIGATION of avian medullary bone in this laboratory led to the observation of a substance therein which gave a very strong positive reaction with the periodic acid–Schiff technique. In some instances this took the form of branching homogeneous strands or fibrils of irregular thickness distributed in a less-strong periodic acid–Schiff-positive matrix; in other instances it was more dispersed and less distinctly fibrillar. Variation in the amount of this substance was also noted in different stages of the egg-laying cycle and, as a loss of chondroitin sulphate from the cartilage is known to precedo endochondral bone formation, an attempt was made to determine the nature of the periodic acid–Schiff-positive substance in avian bone and to correlate the variations in appearance and amount with the alternate absorption and deposition known to occur in this bone during the egg-laying cycle1.

Polyphenolic Derivatives in Rhabdomeres of the Compound Eye

THE chemical composition of a homogenized compound eye was reported by Langer1, but until now nothing was known about the components of rhabdomeres alone, although the presence of photosensitive substances in rhabdomeres has been anticipated by many investigators from a long time ago. During the course of histochemical studies on the compound eye of a house fly, Musca vicina Macquart, periodic acid–Schiff-positive substances were found to be distributed in rhabdomeres of a dark-adapted eye. The periodic acid-Schiff reaction of rhabdomeres was always positive both in a dark-adapted eye treated with saliva for 1 h in an incubator and in a light-adapted eye (Fig. 1). In addition to this, Bauer's reaction of rhabdomeres was very weak.

Application of the Periodic Acid-Schiff Technique to Whole Chick Embryos

The practicability of applying histochemical reactions to bulk staining has been explored by subjecting whole chick embryos at early stages to the periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) reaction. A comparison of the microscopic distribution of PAS positive substances revealed by this procedure with that obtained by the standard routine, i.e., staining of deparaffinized sections on slides, has shown similar localizations of PAS positive material and, in addition, finer morphological detail and more intensive reactions by staining the specimens in toto. The following method is recommended for chick embryos between stages 11-17 (Hamburger and Hamilton): Fixation in Gendre's fluid at 4°C; oxidation with alcoholic buffered periodic acid, 15 min; rinsing in distilled water, 10 min; Schift's reagent, 30 min; 3 sulfite rinses, 5 min each; running tap water, 10 min; dehydration, clearing and double-embedding in celloidin and paraffin.

On the Periodic Acid Schiff Positive Substance of Anuran Retina and Its Relation to Development

On the Periodic Acid Schiff Positive Substance of Anuran Retina and Its Relation to Development

The specificity of the periodic acid-Schiff technique studied by a quantitative test-tube method.

A method is described for the quantitative estimation of periodic acid-Schiff positive substances in solutions of tissue components. It was found that hyaluronic acid and chondroitinsulphuric acid are periodic acid-Schiff negative. Any coloration observed could be ascribed to contaminating polysaccharides probably not or not exclusively composed of hexosamine and hexuronic acid. Unlike the hexosamine groups, the hexuronic acid groups in hyaluronic acid and chondroitinsulphuric acid are attacked by periodic acid without formation, however, of aldehyde groups. The chemistry of this process is discussed.

On the presence of periodic acid schiff positive substances in the paraphysis cerebri, the choroid plexuses and the neuroglia of ambystoma mexicanum

Mittels Farbung mit der histochemischen Methode nachMcManus lasst sich eine grosse Menge Glykogen in derParaphysis cerebri vonAmbystoma nachweisen. Glykogentropfen finden sich weiter im Epithel desPlexus chorioideus und vor allem auch in den ependymalen Gliozyten, deren Auslaufer richtige Strassen zum Glykogentransport zu bilden scheinen. Es wird eine Arbeitshypothese aufgestellt, nach der das Glykogen, eine wichtige Energiequelle wie ein Baustein mehr komplexer chemischer Verbindungen, gebildet in der bei Amphibien machtig entwickelten Paraphyse, in die ventrikulare Cerebrospinalflussigkeit gelangt, um von dort aus von den ependymalen Gliozyten aufgenommen und in das nervose Parenchym hinein transportiert zu werden, wo es eine Rolle bei der Metabolie und dem strukturellen Aufbau spielen kann.

Alkaline phosphatase, glycogen, and periodic acid-Schiff positive substances in the bovine uterus during the estrous cycle.

INTRODUCTION The general histology of the uterus of the cow was described by Schmaltz (1911) and histological changes during the course of the estrous cycle were reported by Murphey (1924), Hammond (1927), Cole (1930), Asdell (1946), Asdell et al. (1949), and Weber et al. (1948 and 1950). Thus far no histochemical findings have been reported on the bovine uterus, although numerous studies have been made on those of other species. The general distribution of alkaline phosphatase in the uterus of various species has been reported by Gomori (1941), Kabat and Furth (1941), and Wislocki and Dempsey (1945). Changes in alkaline phosphatase distribution during the estrous cycle were given for the rat by Pritchard (1949), for the human endometrium by Atkinson and Engle (1947) and Arzac and Blanchet (1948). Cyclic variation of the uteri of several species with regard to glycogen distribution has been demonstrated by many investigators (Reynolds, 1949).

Histochemical comparison of the Casella, Bauer, and periodic acid oxidation-Schiff leucofuchsin technics.

Chromic acid, potassium permanganate and periodic acid apparently produce aldehyde from the same general group of substances. Chromic acid and potassium permanganate also destroy the aldehyde which they have produced, as well as that previously produced by periodic acid oxidation and by the Feulgen hydrochloric acid hydrolysis. Sulfite blockade, by occupying a considerable proportion of the aldehyde groups produced by periodic acid oxidation, creates a Schiff reaction similar to that produced by primary or secondary chromic acid or permanganate oxidation.It is suggested that the periodic acid Schiff positive substances which fail to give distinct Bauer and Casella reactions, are those with relatively few reactive 1,2 glycol, 1,2 OH,NH2, or 1,2 OH,NHR groupings per molecule.