Histochemical Demonstration of Succinic Dehydrogenase in Ascites Tumor Cells

Fresh undiluted tumor ascites (0.05 ml) withdrawn from peritoneal cavity was placed immediately in a centrifuge tube containing 2.0 ml of an aqueous mixture prepared with 1 part each of the following solutions: 1% neotetrazolium chloride, 0.2 M sodium succinate and 0.1 M phosphate buffer, pH 7.4. The tube was incubated for 2 hr at 37°C and centrifuged for 3 min at 700 rev/min. The precipitate was washed with 0.85% saline solution and subsequently fixed with neutral 10% formalin for 10 min. After centrifugation, smears or squash preparations of the precipitate were prepared. Succinic dehydrogenase activity was demonstrated very distinctly and uniformly by the granular deposition of a deep purple pigment intracellularly.