The post-mortem stability of certain oxidative enzymes in brain and spinal cord

An investigation has been carried out on the stability of several enzymes in portions of rabbit brain and spinal cord kept at controlled temperatures between 22 and 37° C for periods up to 24 hours before processing for enzyme activity. The enzymes studied were NAD diaphorase, succinate, lactate, glutamate and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenases, and monoamine oxidase. One-wavelength "plug" cytophotometric measurements of enzyme activity were carried out on Purkinje cells, neuropil of the granular layer of the cerebellar cortex and on anterior horn cells. Succinate dehydrogenase activity proved to be stable after 24 hours post-mortem exposure at 37°C. Lactate dehydrogenase, NAD diaphorase and monoamine oxidase activities were less stable at the higher temperatures but were stable at 22°C. Glutamate and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activities fell significantly with exposure at 22°C. It thus appears possible to make valid histochemical measurements of the activities of certain oxidative enzymes in selected post-mortem brain material

Quantitative oxidative enzyme histochemistry of the spinal cord. Part 1. Distribution of enzyme activity in anterior horn cells

Cytophotometric measurements of the activities of 5 oxidative enzymes (succinate, malate, lactate, NAD+-linked isocitrate and NADH dehydrogensases) have been made in anterior horn cells of the lumbar and cervical spinal cord of the rabbit. The thickness of tissue sections was measured by an interference microscope and various optical and chemical precautions were taken to diminish the possible errors that might be involved in cytophotometry. The findings of the study indicated a unimodal distribution of the activities of all of the enzymes studied in anterior horn cells, though there was a wide range of enzyme concentration among different cells. Thus the findings in the rabbit are consistent with the "constant proportion" hypothesis of the activity of certain oxidative enzymes, and are contrary to a previous finding that there may be two populations of succinate dehydrogenase-containing anterior horn cell

Quantitative oxidative enzyme histochemistry of the spinal cord. Part 2. Relation of cell size and enzyme activity to vulnerability to ischaemia

Cytophotometric measurements of the activities of 5 enzymes (succinate, malate, and NAD+-linked isocitrate dehydrogenases from the tricarboxylic cycle, lactate dehydrogenase from the Embden-Meyerhof pathway, and NADH dehydrogenase) were correlated with cell volume for neurones in the anterior horn of rabbit lumbar and cervical spinal cord. The data for succinate and isocitrate dehydrogenases indicated that these enzymes were at higher concentrations in the smaller neurones, which consist largely of interneurones. No preferential localization to particular sizes of cell could be assigned to the other enzymes studied. The relationship between enzyme distribution patterns and their possible role in contributing toward susceptibility to ischaemia of particular sizes of neurones is discussed

Aspects of tetrazolium salt reduction relevant to quantitative histochemistry

Uncertainty about the nature of the reduction products of ditetrazolium salts may have limited their use in quantitative histochemistry. Our studies have shown that under appropriate conditions pure Nitro-BT reduces through a red intermediate substance to a stable blue diformazan. Nitrobenzene was found to be a satisfactory solvent for this diformazan. The monotetrazolium INT may also be reduced to a formazan through an intermediate phase. The amounts of definitive formazan produced from both monotetrazolium and ditetrazolium salts may be influenced by the solubility of their intermediate reduction compounds in the systems in which reduction is occurring. The yield of definitive diformazan from Nitro-BT after chemical reduction, and after enzymatic reduction in liver homogenate and sections of a "mock" tissue, was not in linear proportion to the strength of reducing conditions; however, the yields of formazan from the monotetrazoliums INT and MTT were linear. This finding suggests that in quantitative histochemistry it is essential to calibrate reactions involving ditetrazolium reduction