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Effect of diethyldithiocarbamate (DEDTC) on sulphide silver stained boutons reversible blocking of Timm's sulphide silver stain for “heavy” metals in DEDTC treated rats (Light Microscopy)

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Summary

Adult albino rats were given a single intraperitoneal injection of diethyidithiocarbamate (DEDTC) in doses from 7 to 1000 mg per kg body weight and sacrificed by vascular perfusion with buffered sodium sulphide 5 min to several days after DEDTC treatment. Sections of the brains were cut on a cryostat and stained with a physical developer (Timm's method).

Intravital DEDTC treatment prevented subsequent sulphide silver staining of the hippocampal mossy fibre boutons, other synaptic fields within the hippocampal region, the neuropil in the amygdala, and all other parts of the forebrain except the olfactory bulb and the islands of Calleja. This effect was virtually identical to that recently reported for another chelating agent, dithizone.

The effect of a single injection is reversible and its magnitude and duration depend upon the dose.

It is suggested that DEDTC combines with transition and group IIb metals present in specific synaptic boutons in the forebrain.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Anatomy, University of Aarhus, Denmark

    Gorm Danscher, Finn-Mogens Š. Haug & Kjeld Fredens

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  1. Gorm Danscher
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  2. Finn-Mogens Š. Haug
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  3. Kjeld Fredens
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Additional information

On leave of absence from the Anatomical Institute, University of Oslo (Norway).

This study was supported in part by U.S. P.H.S. Grant NS 07998. We are indebted to UCLA brain information service for bibliographical assistance. We are greatly indebted to Lene Knudsen, Birgit Örum, Thorkild Nielsen, Karin Sörensen, and Albert Meier for their valuable technical assistance.

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Danscher, G., Haug, FM.Š. & Fredens, K. Effect of diethyldithiocarbamate (DEDTC) on sulphide silver stained boutons reversible blocking of Timm's sulphide silver stain for “heavy” metals in DEDTC treated rats (Light Microscopy). Exp Brain Res 16, 521–532 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00234478

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00234478

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