Aldehyde-fuchsin staining of antral endocrine cells

Correlative studies have been made to identify the endocrine cells stained by Aldehyde-Fuchsin (AF) in the cat and human antral mucosa. D-cells weakly stained by AF after oxidation: this staining might be related to the disulphide group present in the molecule of Somatostatin (the hypothalamic hormone recently localized in D-cells). The gastrin-producing G-cells were on the contrary strongly stained (without oxidation) in tissues fixed in Helly-fluid. Histochemical investigations on the mechanism of such staining lead to the conclusion that it might be related to affinity of the stain for hidden acidic groups.