Quantitative enzyme histochemistry of rat foetal brain and trigeminal ganglion.
The increasing concern and the efforts in determining neurological effects in offsprings resulting from maternal exposure to xenobiotics are faced with several difficulties in monitoring damage to the central nervous system. In this paper, the efficiency of several enzyme histochemical reactions for analysing the forebrain and the trigeminal ganglia of rat foetuses are reported. Brains of 20-day-old Sprague-Dawley rat foetuses were frozen and analysed for 18 enzymes that had previously been used to monitor initial injury caused by toxic compounds in liver and other organs. Eight enzymes appeared suitable as histochemical markers for the functional integrity of different areas in brain and ganglia of rats exposed to xenobiotics. They were lactate, malate, glycerophosphate (NAD-linked), succinate, aldehyde and glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenases, alpha-glycerophosphate-menadione oxidoreductase and cytochrome c oxidase. The activities of the enzymes were determined by microphotometry and the arrangement of absorbances of the enzyme final reaction products into appropriate analytical tables is proposed as an efficient procedure for data analysis.
Chieco
P
P
Institute of Oncology F. Addarii, Bologna, Italy.
Hrelia
P
P
Lisignoli
G
G
Cantelli-Forti
G
G
D000110:Acetylcholinesterase / Q000032:analysis; D000251:Adenosine Triphosphatases / Q000032:analysis; D000469:Alkaline Phosphatase / Q000032:analysis; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000201:enzymology*; D005260:Female; D005333:Fetus / Q000201:enzymology*; D006651:Histocytochemistry; D009252:NADPH Dehydrogenase / Q000032:analysis; D010783:Photometry / Q000379:methods; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D012668:Trigeminal Ganglion / Q000201:enzymology*; D014276:Trigeminal Nerve / Q000201:enzymology*
D009252:NADPH Dehydrogenase; D000110:Acetylcholinesterase; D000469:Alkaline Phosphatase; D000251:Adenosine Triphosphatases