A method for myoglobin in cryostat sections of muscle by precipitation with sulfosalicylic acid

Transverse cryostat sections of skeletal muscle were fixed in a solution containing 1.5% glutaraldehyde and 1.5% sulfosalicylic acid and stained in a solution containing equal volumes of 3% hydrogen peroxide and 50% ethanol saturated with o-tolidine. Myoglobin in the sarcoplasm of muscle fibers was precipitated and stained blue. Applicability of this method to cryostat sections, without glutaraldehyde fixations prior to freezing, allowed the myoglobin content of individual muscle fibers to be correlated with other histochemical characteristics of the same fibers seen in serial sections. In the dark red bovine sternomandibularis muscle, fibers with weak adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) and strong succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) activity always exhibited strong myoglobin staining. An equal degree of staining was found in many fibers with strong ATPase and intermediate to strong SDH activity. Fibers with strong ATPase and weak SDH activity were less strongly stained than the preceding types.