Visualisation of catecholamine-fluorescent nerve cell bodies in the rat brain after colchicine treatment.

Central administration of colchicine causes accumulation of catecholamines in nerve cell bodies and enhances their visualisation in the rat brain by the formaldehyde-glutaraldehyde (FAGLU) histofluorescence method. The detection of catecholamine-containing nerve cells by the FAGLU method was considerably improved in rats pretreated with colchicine, and adrenaline-synthesising nerve cells, which are not normally detected by the FAGLU method, could be readily localized after colchicine. The identity of the FAGLU-fluorescent nerve cells was confirmed by simultaneous immunofluorescent detection of catecholamine-synthesising enzymes in sections of the medulla oblongata. The FAGLU method applied to colchicine-treated animals could provide a simple means of detecting central adrenaline nerve cells in other species.