A histochemical study of amines in palatal tissue from normal and glycosuric mice

Synopsis A fluorescence histochemical technique for localizing catecholamines was applied to palatal tissue obtained from laboratory mice and from glycosuric and nonglycosuric Australian hopping mice. Specific catecholamine fluorescence related to blood vessels was demonstrated in all the tissue samples, though there was a tendency for this to be less marked in palates taken from the glycosuric animals.Although the presence of discrete areas of bright yellow fluorescence was noted in the tissue of the laboratory mice, these areas of yellow fluorescence (probably serotonin within mast cells) were virtually absent from the palates of the hopping mice despite the fact that there was little difference in the respective mast cell populations in the palatal tissues of the laboratory and hopping mice as determined by metachromatic staining procedures.