HISTOCHEMICAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO PHYSIOLOGY

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Abstract
The present review describes a selected series of staining reactions which have been applied to tissue sections and which have provided information capable of chemical interpretation. The point of view is expressed that useful chemical characterization of cells and various interstitial substances can often be accomplished by methods which are not highly specific. Furthermore, by the comparison of several different lines of evidence, conclusions may frequently be drawn when a single approach would be inconclusive. Several reactions which are reasonably specific for particular compounds or groups of compounds are described. Among these are reactions for lipoidal substances such as lipines, steroids and vit. A, and several enzymatic reactions including those for oxidases and peroxidase, the dopa reaction and phospha-tases. The relationships between the substances revealed by these reactions and various physiologic states are briefly discussed. It is pointed out that a system of histologic classification based upon histochemical observations will eventually prove useful. Such a system, employing chemical criteria, will be more directly applicable to the analysis of functional phenomena than the presently used morphological system. As examples of this type of approach to histologic problems, the relationships of nucleoproteins to protein synthesis, of nucleoproteins to phosphatase activity, and of phosphatase to glycogenesis are discussed.