title: Electron microscopic study of endogenous peroxidase activity in human liver macrophages.
abstract: We evaluated the conditions of fixation for ultrastructurally demonstrating the endogenous peroxidase (PO) activity of macrophages in biopsied human liver. The application of microwaving and immersion fixation with tannic acid and aldehydes allowed excellent visualization of PO activity in the nuclear envelope (NE), rough endoplasmic reticulum (rER), and cytoplasmic granules (CG), with good preservation of cellular ultrastructures. The macrophages with PO activity showed one of the following five patterns of PO localization: positive in both the NE and rER but negative in the CG (type 1); negative in both the NE and rER but positive in the CG (type 2); negative in the NE but positive in both the rER and CG (type 3); positive in all three (type 4); PO negative (type 5). The type 1 cells resembled typical Kupffer cells, type 2 cells monocytes, and type 3 and 4 cells the exudate-resident macrophages considered to be a transitional form between exudate and resident macrophages. Type 5 cells may also be a transitional form between the exudate and resident macrophage, or an end-stage macrophage derived from exudate macrophages which have lost their PO activity. Tannic-acid-aldehyde immersion fixation with microwaving may be a useful method in the study of the PO activities of macrophages in biopsied human liver specimens.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Fukui Medical School, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ueda
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kohli
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Abe
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Katoh
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ogasawara
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nojyo
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kashima
mesh_terms: D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000201:enzymology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D003594:Cytoplasmic Granules / Q000201:enzymology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D004721:Endoplasmic Reticulum / Q000201:enzymology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D006505:Hepatitis / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008264:Macrophages / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D010544:Peroxidases / Q000378:metabolism*; D016707:Tissue Fixation
chemical_list: D010544:Peroxidases