HISTOLOGIC STUDY OF THE BRAIN IN EXPERIMENTALLY INDUCED ACIDOSIS

Abstract

IN PREVIOUS experiments¹ it was demonstrated that lowering the ph of the blood led to impairment of excitability of the nervous system to electrical stimulation. The greatest reductions in excitability occurred in reflex arcs. Motor nuclei and peripheral motor nerves underwent the least reductions in excitability in extreme acidosis. In the present experiments an attempt was made to study effects of acidosis on the cytologic structure of the nervous system with methods adequate to reveal slight changes in the structure of nerve cells of the brain. MATERIAL AND METHODS Adult guinea pigs of both sexes and various ages were used. In one series of experiments acidosis was brought about by administering a 10 per cent solution of ammonium chloride by stomach tube in doses of 2 to 4 cc. daily over varying periods. In other experiments acidosis was induced by venoclysis with a lactate buffer of ph