Subcellular localization of gold in suprarenal testicle and thyroid glands after injection of allochrysine in rats.

Gold injected under the form of anti-rheumatoid polyarthritis soluble solutions provokes, as observed by electron microscope, a deposit of crystalline micro-needles in different tissues, like in cells of adrenal and suprarenal glands, in Leydig cells of the testicles, in isolated thyrocytes and in thyroid endothelial cells. They are present as bundles, often of incurvated type, of high electron-density, present in lysosomes, which contain moreover a hyaline, emptied vesicle. These structures are named "aurosomes". The microanalysis, using the MS 46 (Cameca) and the Camebax (MBX) demonstrates that these crystalline structures are composed by gold associated with sulphur, and not with phosphate.