Immunohistochemical localization of hexose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase in various organs of the rat.

Distribution of hexose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase in various organs of the rat has been studied by a peroxidase-labeled antibody method in order to find some clue to elucidating the, as yet unclear, function of this enzyme. As a result, the following cells were found to contain this enzyme in relative abundance: hepatic parenchymal cells, ovarian lutein and theca interna cells, testicular interstitial cells, striated ducts and serous tubular portions of the submandibular gland, plasma cells and the P3 segment of proximal convolutions, and collecting tubules of the cortex and inner medulla of the kidney. Although the role of this enzyme in salivary glands and in plasma cells is unclear at present, the results obtained with steroidogenic cells, liver cells, and renal tubules appear to suggest the possibility that this enzyme might be involved in drug and steroid metabolism.