The quantification of formazans in tissue sections by microdensitometry. I. The use of neotetrazolium chloride

Synopsis This article describes the use of a microdensitometer for the measurement of formazan deposits in tissue sections. Some examples are given to illustrate the various applications of this technique in the assessment of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activity. These are (1) the separate measurement of the red half-formazan intermediate and purple diformazan of neotetrazolium, and the effect of incubation time on their production, (2) the measurement of activities in different regions of the liver lobule, and the selective effect of phenobarbitone, and (3) the measurement of enzyme activity in individual cartilage cells in normal and osteoarthrosis-prone animals. All activities can be expressed in absolute units as nmol hydrogen/mm³/hr, and thus compared with standard biochemical data. The activities obtained all fall within the range of published values for biochemical systems.Paper given at the Royal Microscopical Society's European Histochemistry Meeting at Nottingham in September 1975.