Mucopolysaccharides in the dog spinal cord and dorsal root ganglia. A histochemical study.

A histochemical study of mucopolysaccharides in the dog spinal cord and dorsal root ganglia is reported in this paper. The histochemical techniques used were the following: PAS, colloidal iron, toluidine blue (pH 5.4 and 3.5), thionine (pH 5.4 and 3.5) and alcian blue 8GX (pH 1 and 2.5). Some histological stains were used also. Two types of neurons could be observed in spinal cord sections stained with colloidal iron techniques. In some neuron a border line of mucosubstances could be seen. In the dorsal root ganglia, different patterns of Nissl bodies distribution in neurons were described. This different distribution of Nissl bodies is associated with different metachromatic colorations of neurons. By using the colloidal iron method, two types of neurons were also revealed in the dorsal root ganglia: some neurons are of a yellow, small-sized and star-shaped type and others are of a light green, larger and round-shaped type. Mucosubstances in the endoneurium and perineurium of nerve fibers, in the Ranvier nodules and in the Schmidt-Lantermann incisures were observed. The possibility that the functional rhythm in some cases might be responsible for the difference in coloration between the dorsal root ganglia neurons is suggested.