Selenium-induced autometallographic demonstration of endogenous zinc in organs of the rainbow trout, Salmo gairdneri.

Autometallographic (AMG) silver enhancement of endogenous zinc was studied in seven organs of the rainbow trout Salmo gairdneri. Groups of trout were injected intraperitoneally with sodium selenite in doses ranging from 0.08 to 25 ppm, administered 1 h before being killed. The concentration of selenium obtained by each organ was determined by gamma-spectrometry, and compared with the autometallographic deposition of silver grains. The relative accumulation of selenium in the organs was: liver greater than spleen greater than kidney greater than intestine greater than gills greater than brain greater than muscle. In the fish labelled with 10 and 25 ppm Se, AMG-deposits were found (1) within lysosomes of liver cells, (2) within the granules and on the nuclear membrane of melanophores in the spleen, (3) on the microvilli and in the apical cytoplasm of renal proximal tubular cells, (4) within the granules and along the plasma membrane of intestinal eosinophilic granule cells, and in the apical portion of the intestinal epithelium, and (5) in the gills, within granule cells and on the surface of the ionocytes. In the trouts injected with 5 ppm Se, silver grains were still observed in the liver, the intestine, and the gills, whereas, no such grains were found in preparations from fish having received 1 ppm Se. The use of selenium for the histochemical demonstration of endogenous zinc versus exogenous metals is discussed. Also, consideration is given to the question of which part of the total tissue zinc that is histochemically reactive.