Histochemical demonstration of cytoplasmic glycosaminoglycans in the macroneurons of the human central nervous system.

The presence of glycosaminoglycans (GAG) has been histochemically demonstrated in the CNS of various mammalian species. They have been related with some nerve functions as neurotransmitters storage and synaptic transmission. In the present paper, the histochemical properties of nerve cell cytoplasmic GAG were studied in several regions of adult human CNS. Samples of brain cortex, pons, upper medulla, and cerebellar cortex obtained by autopsy from subjects not dying after neurological diseases were fixed by immersion in glutaraldehyde, dehydrated with ethanol, and embedded in paraffin. The sections were stained with Alcian blue solutions adjusted to pH 2.5, 4.0, and 5.7. To the latter solution MgCl2 was added in increasing concentration from 0.05 to 1.2 M. Testicular hyaluronidase, neuraminidase, and ribonuclease were applied on simultaneous sections with their respective controls. The sequence of these reactions allowed us to demonstrate the presence of hyaluronic acid along chondroitin-4- and/or 6-sulphate in the cytoplasm of most nerve cells. The sulphated GAG showed certain variability in the various regions studied related specially with their grade of sulphation.