Carbonic anhydrase localization by light and electron microscopy: a comparison of methods.

The histochemical localization of carbonic anhydrase by Hansson's cobalt-salt method was compared with immunocytochemical localization in the proventriculus (glandular stomach), the chorioallantoic membrane, and in articular and growth-plate cartilages from the domestic hen. Numerous differences were observed. Staining was positive by Hansson's method and negative by immunocytochemistry for the submucosal glands of the proventriculus, articular cartilage cells, resting and proliferating cells of the growth plate, nuclei, and intercellular spaces. Red blood cells stained faintly and inconsistently by Hansson's method. Both methods were in agreement for the cytoplasm of the surface mucosal cells of the proventriculus, the cytoplasm of the villus cavity cells in the chorioallantoic membrane, and in hypertrophic cells of growth-plate cartilage. Acetazolamide usually inhibited the histochemical reaction, even in those sites that, according to other methods, did not contain enzyme. Consequently, acetazolamide inhibition appears to be an unreliable control for the histochemical reaction.