A Lead-Tetra-Acetate-Schiff Method for Polysaccharides in Tissue Sections

Abstract

Lead tetra-acetate, shown by Criegee (1931, 1937) to have nearly the same action as periodic acid, is used as an oxidant in a 1% solution in 30 volumes glacial acetic acid with 70 volumes saturated aqueous sodium acetate, followed by Schiff's reagent. This new method for demonstrating carbohydrates in tissue sections yields pictures similar to those obtained with McManus' method. However, some tissues are stained more intensely and extensively by the lead-tetra-acetate-Schiff method than by the periodic-acid-Schiff method. For instance, by the lead tetra-acetate procedure, glycogen is demonstrable in Müller's fibers of the retina, in the epithelium of the cornea, in some neuroglial cells and nerve cells, in the argen-taffine cells of the intestine and in certain parts of the renal tubules, where little or none is revealed after oxidation with periodic acid. The positive staining with this method disappears following acetylation, except for a moderate residual reaction in the granules of mast cells, the inner part of the cornea, and the follicular fluid and zona pellucida of ovarian eggs. Myelin sheaths present a moderate degree of staining, which is removable with hot methanol and chloroform, or pyridine.