A COMPARISON OF ALCIAN BLUE-ALDEHYDE FUCHSIN AND PEROXIDASE-LABELED ANTIBODY STAINING TECHNIQUES IN THE RAT ADENOHYPOPHYSIS

The peroxidase-labeled antibody (P-Ab) technique was compared on adjacent sections with a permanganate-Alcian Blue (AB)-aldehyde fuchsin (AF) procedure on the anterior pituitary gland of young adult, female rats. The cells that stained with both AB and AF (AB, AF+) were large and polygonal and frequently possessed long processes; these cells correspond to those which reacted with the TSH antibody. The cells that stained only with AF reacted with the FSH antibody in the P-Ab technique and the cells which reacted with the LH antibody were not stained with either AB or AF.AB,AF+ cells ("TSH" cells) were distributed throughout the anterior lobe except along the lateral and dorsal peripheries of the gland and adjacent to the intermediate lobe, while both the AF+ ("FSH" cells) and the "LH" cells were distributed throughout the anterior lobe.