Electron microscopic study of the retina vitally stained with neutral red
Tsuneoka, H.
Nippon Ganka Gakkai Zasshi 85(6): 510-529
1981
ISSN/ISBN: 0029-0203 PMID: 6170214 Document Number: 176226
The fine structural changes in the retina of rabbits and rats vitally stained with neutral red were investigated with the EM. The basic dye, neutral red, passed through the blood-retinal barrier, permeated into the retina and stained tissue in red in 15 min after injection. Many neutral red vacuoles were observed in the retinal pigment epithelium and in the retinal ganglion cells with light microscope. The EM study showed that the disruption of the blood-retinal barrier did not exist and other tracer, horseradish peroxidase, was not allowed to pass through this barrier even after the neutral red had penetrated. After the dye injection, only already existing lysosomes in the retinal pigment epithelium were swollen, but the Golgi vesicles in the ganglion cell became gradually more prominent than in those of normal retina. Many newly formed lysosomes and autophagic vacuoles could be recognized. The changes seen in the EM were transient and occurred simultaneously with the process of neutral red vacuole formation under a light microscope. Apparently, neutral red vacuoles originated from lysosomes. Except for the Golgi apparatus and the lysosomes most organelles seemed unaffected by neutral red.