A Note on the Action of Gallamine on Isolated Rabbit Auricles

The action of gallamine triethiodide on the effects of methacholine and acetylcholine on isolated spontaneously beating rabbit auricles in oxygenated mammalian Ringer's solution at 30° has been investigated. Gallamine blocked the effects of both drugs. The effects of gallamine were similar to those of atropine, but gallamine was weaker and was more readily removed by washing.

Succinylcholine pretreatment using gallamine or mivacurium during rapid sequence induction in children: a randomized, controlled study

STUDY OBJECTIVE

To determine if pretreatment with either gallamine or mivacurium before succinylcholine in children is associated with reduction in fasciculations; postoperative myalgias; or serum levels of potassium, creatinine phosphokinase (CPK), and myoglobin.

DESIGN

Prospective, randomized, double-blinded study.

SETTING

Operating room at a children's hospital.

PATIENTS

45 ASA physical status IE children, aged 3 to 15 years, scheduled for emergency surgery.

INTERVENTIONS

The children received either normal saline 0.5 mL, mivacurium chloride 0.03 mg. kg(-1), or gallamine triethiodide 0.04 mg. kg(-1)2 minutes prior to rapid sequence induction (RSI) using thiopental sodium 5 mg. kg(-1), fentanyl 2 microg. kg(-1), and succinylcholine 2 mg. kg(-1).

MEASUREMENTS

Serum potassium concentration (0, 3, 5, 7.5, and 15 min), myoglobin concentration (5 and 15 min), and CPK concentration (0 min and 24 hr). Fasciculation and myalgia were rated on a 0 to 3 score.

MAIN RESULTS

There was no difference between groups for fasciculation (p = 0.87) or myalgia score (p = 0.52). The mivacurium group had significantly less increase in potassium at 5 minutes (0.45 vs. 0.0, p = 0.01), myoglobin at 5 minutes (56 vs. 2, p < 0.001), myoglobin at 15 minutes (128 vs. 2.5, p < 0.001), and CPK at 24 hours (399 vs. 138, p < 0.001) following succinylcholine when compared with normal saline. Additionally, we found a significant level of association (p < 0.001) between fasciculation and myoglobin levels and fasciculation and CPK levels (p < 0.001). Gallamine was not effective in reducing the increase of potassium, myoglobin, or CPK. However, the dose of gallamine used for pretreatment was 13 times less than the dose of mivacurium.

CONCLUSIONS

Administration of mivacurium 0.03 mg. kg(-1) intravenously 2 minutes before administration of succinylcholine 2 mg. kg(-1) in children is effective in reducing the increase in serum potassium at 5 minutes, the increase in myoglobin at 5 minutes and 15 minutes, and the increase in CPK at 24 hours.

Pharmacological responses of thiamine-deficient rat tissues

Rats were rendered deficient in thiamine by feeding a synthetic diet free of the vitamin. Responses of the isolated heart to acetylcholine, adrenaline, noradrenaline and isoprenaline, and of the phrenic nerve-diaphragm preparation to tubocurarine, gallamine and eserine, were compared with responses of tissues obtained from littermate rats pair-fed an identical diet with the addition of 25 mug of thiamine hydrochloride per day. In thiamine-deficient tissues eserine failed to produce sustained potentiation of the twitch response of the phrenic nerve-diaphragm preparation to single supramaximal nerve stimuli. The perfused thiamine-deficient heart was more sensitive to acetylcholine, adrenaline, noradrenaline and isoprenaline, which produced greater negative or lesser positive chronotropic and inotropic effects. There was no significant difference in the response of the phrenic nerve-diaphragm preparation to tubocurarine and gallamine, or to eserine with faradic stimulation.

Curarelike drugs and vagal synapses: comparative study in vitro on the isolated vagus-stomach preparation of the rat

The anti-acetylcholine properties of curare-like drugs have been investigated on the motor responses of the electrically stimulated isolated vagus-stomach preparation of the rat. The synaptic site of the inhibitory action shown to varying degrees by the compounds tested has been located by comparing the modifications of the gastric responses to stimulation of preganglionic vagal fibres with the unmodified responses of the rat stomach strip preparation to acetylcholine.

Haloperidol does not produce dopamine cell depolarization-block in paralyzed, unanesthetized rats

A widely accepted theory postulates that chronic treatment with neuroleptics causes, in rats, the depolarization block of the majority of midbrain dopamine (DA) neurons. However, we reported that such treatment fails to reduce the number of spontaneously active DA neurons when the neuronal sampling is performed in the d-tubocurarine-paralyzed instead of chloral-hydrate anesthetized preparation. The present experiments were aimed at verifying whether the negative results might be due to the use of d-tubocurarine as paralyzing agent. Rats were chronically treated with haloperidol (0.5 mg kg-1 i.p., daily) for 3 to 4 weeks. Two to three hours after the last injection, the number of spontaneously active DA neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) were sampled, and their discharging characteristics analyzed, both in animals under chloral hydrate anesthesia and in rats immobilized either with d-tubocurarine, gallamine or succinylcholine. The results indicate that chronic treatment with haloperidol reduced the number of spontaneously active VTA-DA neurons by about 65% in animals under chloral hydrate anesthesia, but failed to modify the number of spontaneously firing DA neurons in rats immobilized with d-tubocurarine, gallamine or succinylcholine. The results indicate that the depolarization block of DA neurons does not occur in the paralyzed preparation and raise doubts about the presence of this phenomenon in the intact non- anesthetized unrestrained animal.

Spontaneous synchronized neural activity in decerebrate gallamine-paralysed cats

In decerebrate cats paralysed with gallamine, over a period of several days there develops a remarkable synchronization of discharge in widely different motor nerves throughout the body, including intercostal nerves and limb nerves. These discharges are also in synchrony with slow waves approximately 100 ms in duration in the inferior olive. The slow waves and discharges are at first irregular and only weakly synchronized, but become increasingly strongly synchronized and by about the fourth day exhibit a strong 6-8 Hz rhythm. The degree of synchronization is greater the lower the end-tidal CO2 concentration. Transection of the spinal cord at a high cervical level breaks the synchrony and may abolish the discharge in the nerves, but the slow waves in the inferior olive continue rhythmically. It was shown, however, that gallamine injected subdurally at cervical vertebra 7 or lumbar vertebra 7 has a direct excitatory action on the spinal cord. Slow waves in the inferior olive are elicited by gallamine in the decerebrate, spinalized and decerebellectomized cat, and therefore must originate in the brainstem. Gallamine is known to act directly on olivary neurons and the slow waves may originate in the inferior olive, but further experiments are needed to determine what other structures it affects. The condition of the cat a few days after decerebration and paralysis resembles the clinical condition of reticular reflex myoclonus and it is suggested that the genesis of the myoclonus may be similar in the two conditions.

Acetylcholinesterase as polyelectrolyte: interaction with multivalent cationic inhibitors

Influence of inorganic salts on the interaction of cobra venom acetylcholinesterase (EC 3.1.1.7) with hexamethonium and gallamine has been studied. The observed negative electrostatic salt effect in the dissociation constant of the enzyme-ligand complex, KD, has been described by equation pKD = pKD degrees-ZL psi +Z log[Me+Z] following from Manning's polyelectrolyte theory, where psi +Z is the fraction of condensed counterions Me+Z per one negative charge of the polyanionic enzyme. The ZL psi+Z values for the complex formation between native acetylcholinesterase and hexamethonium (ZL = +2) or gallamine (ZL = +3) were in quantitative agreement with those predicted by the theory making use of psi+1 = 0.50 found earlier from the influence of salts upon the hydrolysis of acetylcholine by the enzyme. Increase in the number of negative charges in acetylcholinesterase by its modification with pyromellitic dianhydride resulted in an increase of psi+1 to 0.6. The data show that the influence of salts on the electrostatic contribution to the energy of binding of cationic substrates and inhibitors by acetylcholinesterase can be quantitatively described proceeding from the counterion condensation model of Manning by using only one empirical parameter psi+1 for a given subtype or modified form of the enzyme.

Cardiovascular and respiratory responses to slow ramp carotid sinus pressures in the dog

The respiratory and mean arterial pressure (MAP) responses to slow ramp pressure stimulation of carotid baroreceptors were compared in pentobarbital-anesthetized vagotomized dogs breathing 100% O2. Carotid sinus pressure (CSP) was raised from 50 (control) to 220 mmHg and then returned to control as linear ramps (+/- 1 mmHg/s) in isolated sinuses. MAP, heart rate (HR), ventilation (VE), frequency (f), and tidal volume (VT) were expressed as percent of control. The maximum difference between responses to positive and negative ramps at a given CSP (MAX) and the average difference (AVG) served as indicators of the hysteresis for each response. In 27 dogs MAP changed monotonically with varying CSP with insignificant (P = 0.27, MAX) or barely significant (P = 0.03, AVG) hysteresis, monotonic function being one that is continuously nondecreasing or continuously nonincreasing. Similar responses were obtained for HR. VE decreased as CSP increased, but the change was not monotonic. During negative ramp, VE increased back to control with an overshoot. Hysteresis for VE was pronounced (P less than 0.0001, both measures). The VE response was primarily determined by f; VT increased with CSP. To eliminate secondary respiratory effects due to alterations in MAP, in seven dogs similar experiments were performed after ganglionic blockade with hexamethonium. Hysteresis in VE and f persisted. To assess the role of changing arterial PCO2 (PaCO2) on VE, the CSP was held constant (after a ramp rise) at 140, 150, or 180 mmHg before reducing it at -1 mmHg/s to 50 mmHg; however, a significant hysteresis in VE was still observed. Further experiments, to eliminate secondary reflexes due to altered PaCO2, were performed in seven dogs after ganglionic blockade and paralysis with Flaxedil, with phrenic nerve activity as an indicator of ("neural") respiration. The hysteresis in VE and f were no longer significant. In summary, the results indicate that 1) slow ramp carotid baroreceptor stimulation elicits both VE and cardiovascular responses, the VE response showing a dramatically higher hysteresis than the cardiovascular responses; 2) the ventilatory hysteresis is partially explained by the secondary changes in PaCO2 and perhaps by cardiovascular variables; and 3) the central processing of the baroventilatory reflex appears to be rate sensitive at a slower rate of pressure change than that which causes rate sensitivity in the baropressure reflex.

Effects of benidipine hydrochloride on atrioventricular conduction time and postural reflex in gallamine-immobilized cats

Using gallamine-immobilized cats, the effect of (+/-)-(R*)-2,6-dimethyl-4-(m-nitrophenyl)-1,4-dihydropyridine-3,5-dic arb oxylic acid (R*)-1-benzyl-3-piperidinyl ester, methyl ester hydrochloride (benidipine hydrochloride, KW-3049) was compared with those of other drugs in terms of the propensity for atrioventricular conduction disturbances and orthostatic hypotension. The administration of KW-3049 at doses of 1 to 300 micrograms/kg i.v. dose-dependently lowered the blood pressure and also reduced the heart rate. In terms of the maximum blood pressure lowering activity, KW-3049 was similar in degree to nifedipine and approximately 30 times as potent as diltiazem, verapamil and phenoxybenzamine. KW-3049 as well as nifedipine, at doses with which the mean blood pressure can be reduced by 50 mmHg, hardly affected the PR-interval of ECG, whereas diltiazem and verapamil at their hypotensive doses markedly prolonged the PR interval. These four calcium antagonists at their high doses elicited 2nd or 3rd degree atrioventricular blocks in some cases. On the other hand, phenoxybenzamine did not affect the atrioventricular conduction at its hypotensive doses. Inhibitory action on the pressor responses to head-up tilting in cats was observed neither in KW-3049, nifedipine, verapamil nor diltiazem. On the contrary, phenoxybenzamine strongly inhibited the orthostatic pressor reflexes. From these results, it was suggested that in terms of the prolongation action of atrioventricular conduction KW-3049 is less potent than diltiazem and verapamil but similar in degree to nifedipine, and that KW-3049 is not likely to cause orthostatic hypotension.

Characterization of respiratory-related activity of the facial nerve

Activities of the facial, hypoglossal and phrenic nerves were recorded in decerebrate and paralyzed cats. These animals were ventilated with a servo-respirator which produced lung inflations in parallel with phrenic activity. Peak inspiratory phrenic, hypoglossal and facial activities increased in hypercapnia or hypoxia. When pulmonary inflation was prevented, hypoglossal and facial activities increased more than phrenic. Responses to withholding lung inflation differed from those following vagotomy. These differences were observed in expiratory facial and hypoglossal activities and in hypercapnia- and hypoxia-induced changes in facial activity. Administration of pentobarbital or hyperventilation to hypocapnia caused greater suppressions of hypoglossal than facial activity; the latter declined more than phrenic activity. The results support the hypothesis that influences from the brainstem reticular formation and from pulmonary stretch receptors are differentially distributed to motoneurons innervating upper airway muscles compared to those of the bulbospinal-phrenic system. The concept that ventilatory activity is influenced by tonic, as well as phasic discharge of pulmonary receptors is discussed.

Effects of hyperoxia on medullary ECF pH and respiration in chemodenervated cats

The effects of transitions from air-breathing to hyperoxia (100% O2), and the reverse, on respiration (phrenic activity) and on medullary extracellular fluid (ECF) pH, or hydrogen ion concentration [H+], were studied in 8 anesthetized, paralyzed, vagotomized and glomectomized cats whose end-tidal PCO2 was kept constant. The transition from air to hyperoxia (7 cats) led to a small (1.23 nmol/L [H+], 0.010 pH unit) acidic shift of medullary ECF and a 24% increase of neural tidal and minute respiratory activity with no significant change of frequency. Opposite changes of approximately equal magnitude followed the transition from hyperoxia to air (8 cats). We show that the slopes of the respiratory responses to changing ECF [H+] in the present study are not different than the slopes with CO2-induced changes of ECF [H+] in 25 other cats. Our findings indicate that most, if not all, of the respiratory increase after hyperoxia is due to accumulation of CO2 and H+ in medullary ECF that act on the central chemoreceptors. We suggest that decreased medullary blood flow and the Haldane effect are the main mechanisms causing the rise of medullary PCO2 and stimulation of breathing.

Gastric excitation by stimulation of the vagal trunk after chronic supranodose vagotomy in cats

Experiments were performed on cats anesthetized with thiopental sodium and gallamine triethiodide and ventilated artificially. Gastric motility was recorded by a balloon method. Electrical stimulation of the vagal trunk in cats with chronic supranodose vagotomy for 11 to 32 days caused an excitatory response of the stomach. The pulse duration of electrical stimulation to obtain a maximal excitatory response of the stomach was 3 msec. Administration of hexamethonium (10 mg/kg i.v.) did not inhibit but enhanced the excitatory response of stomach. Atropine (3, 10 and 30 micrograms/kg i.v.), hemicholinium (10 mg/kg i.v.) and morphine (5 mg/kg i.v.) inhibited this hexamethonium-resistant excitatory response of the stomach, whereas treatment with physostigmine (300 mu/kg i.v.) augmented it. A substance P antagonist, (D-Pro2, D-Trp7.9)-substance P (250 and 500 micrograms/kg i.v.), did not affect the hexamethonium-resistant excitatory response. Acetylcholine content of the nodose ganglion 6 to 8 days after supranodose vagotomy was assayed using the radioenzymatic method, and the level was about 48% that of the intact ganglion. These results suggest that the gastric excitatory response to stimulation of the supranodose denervated vagal trunk is produced by activation of vagal afferent fibers probably originating from the nodose ganglion; the fibers involved are cholinergic.

[Spontaneous development of paralysis induced by equipotent doses of vecuronium, atracurium, fazadinium, pancuronium, gallamine and d-tubocurarine]

Thirty-six patients undergoing elective surgery were studied after obtaining their informed consent. They were randomly assigned to six series of six patients each. One hour before anaesthesia, all patients received 0.2 mg.kg-1 diazepam orally. After induction of anaesthesia with 1-1.5 mg.kg-1 methohexitone and 5 micrograms.kg-1 fentanyl, the patients were paralysed and ventilation was controlled manually (semi-open circuit; 50% N2O/50% O2). Each patient received a single dose of either 70 micrograms.kg-1 fazadinium, 70 micrograms.kg-1 pancuronium, 2,500 micrograms.kg-1 gallamine or 450 micrograms.kg-1 d-tubocurarine. Neuromuscular function was monitored by measuring the isometric contraction of the adductor pollicis muscle in response to supramaximal stimulations of the ulnar nerve at the wrist (square wave pulse of 0.2 ms duration at supramaximal intensity delivery at 0.1 Hz). Three parameters were measured: the time between the injection of the relaxant drug and recovery of the twitch height at 50% of its baseline (RT0-50); the time between the injection of the relaxant drug and recovery of the twitch height at 90% of its baseline (RT0-90); the time between the injection of the relaxant drug and recovery of the twitch height from 25 to 75% of its baseline (RT25-75). The values of the observed parameters were expressed in minutes (means +/- SEM).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Response to gallamine: an indicator of diminished neuromuscular function in experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis

A test for diminished neuromuscular function in animals with experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis is described. Within minutes following an injection of gallamine triethiodide, mice exhibit a dramatic yet transient response which is dose-dependent. Mice previously inoculated with acetylcholine receptor are approximately twice as sensitive to gallamine as normal mice. Positive results have been found in over 80% of receptor-inoculated BALB/c mice and in 94% of C57Bl/6 mice.

Laryngeal pressure receptors

We studied the response characteristics of laryngeal pressure receptors in anesthetized dogs, breathing through a tracheal cannula, by recording single unit action potentials from the peripheral cut end of the internal branch of the superior laryngeal nerve. The larynx, with the rest of the upper airway, was isolated and cannulated separately for the application of distending and collapsing pressures. We identified receptors responding to either negative or positive pressure and a few responding to both. All these receptors showed a marked dynamic sensitivity and had the characteristics of slowly adapting mechanoreceptors. The majority of pressure receptors were active at zero transmural pressure and the gain of their response to pressure was higher at lower values, suggesting a role for these receptors in eupnea. Reflex alterations in breathing pattern and upper airway muscle activity during upper airway pressure changes, previously reported, are presumably mediated by the receptors described here. Moreover, these receptors may play a role in certain pathological states, such as obstructive sleep apnea, in which the upper airway is transiently subjected to large collapsing pressure.

The regulation of flow of pulmonary fluid in fetal sheep

The flow of fluid within the trachea of fetal sheep (121-135 days) has been measured using a newly developed flowmeter. The flowmeter, which is basically a miniature servo-controlled peristaltic pump, is connected in series with an extra-corporeal tracheal loop. Integrated tracheal flow was measured for periods of at least 8 h in 5 control fetuses during which we determined its relationship to fetal breathing movements detected by EMG's of inspiratory muscles or tracheal pressure fluctuations. The overall flow of fluid away from the lungs was 14.4 ml/h; on average outward flow was 5.3 times greater during episodes of breathing movements than during apnea. Interruption of the motor innervation of the larynx in 5 fetuses led to a 25% reduction in mean overall flow and, compared with control fetuses, there was a reduction in net flow associated with breathing movements and an increased flow during apnea. These findings suggest that tracheal flow is normally retarded by a laryngeal mechanism during apnea, giving rise to an elevated pressure within the trachea and probably resulting in increased pulmonary distension. Paralysis of the fetus with gallamine triethiodide reduced the flow of liquid from the lungs and abolished variations in flow rate related to fetal electrocortical states.

Respiratory response to partial paralysis in anesthetized dogs

The ability to maintain alveolar ventilation is compromised by respiratory muscle weakness. To examine the independent role of reflexly mediated neural mechanisms to decreases in the strength of contraction of respiratory muscles, we studied the effects of partial paralysis on the level and pattern of phrenic motor activity in 22 anesthetized spontaneously breathing dogs. Graded weakness induced with succinylcholine decreased tidal volume and prolonged both inspiratory and expiratory time causing hypoventilation and hypercapnia. Phrenic peak activity as well as the rate of rise of the integrated phrenic neurogram increased. However, when studied under isocapnic conditions, increases in the severity of paralysis, as assessed from the ratio of peak diaphragm electromyogram to peak phrenic activity, produced progressive increases in inspiratory time and phrenic peak activity but did not affect its rate of rise. After vagotomy, partial paralysis induced in 11 dogs with succinylcholine also prolonged the inspiratory burst of phrenic activity, indicating that vagal reflexes were not solely responsible for the alterations in respiratory timing. Muscle paresis was also induced with gallamine or dantrolene, causing similar responses of phrenic activity and respiratory timing. Thus, at constant levels of arterial CO2 in anesthetized dogs, respiratory muscle partial paralysis results in a decrease in breathing rate without changing the rate of rise of respiratory motor activity. This is not dependent solely on vagally mediated reflexes and occurs regardless of the pharmacological agent used. These observations in the anesthetized state are qualitatively different from the response to respiratory muscle paralysis or weakness observed in awake subjects.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Fetal and maternal influences on arterial oxygen levels in the sheep fetus

Continuous recordings of arterial oxygen tension (PaO2) and percent oxygen saturation (SaO2) were made in 8 instrumented fetal sheep during late gestation. Fetal behavioural states were monitored from recordings of rapid eye movements, the electrocorticogram, and the nuchal electromyogram (EMG). In addition, fetal breathing and swallowing movements and uterine motility were measured using EMG techniques. Variations in PaO2 and SaO2 were related to fetal muscular activity, non-labour uterine contractions and maternal postural changes. Significant reductions in the variability of PaO2 and SaO2 were brought about in 7 of the 8 fetuses by skeletal muscle paralysis. Variation was further reduced in each fetus by paralysis of the myometrium by a beta-adrenergic agonist. Remaining variations were largely attributable to postural changes by the ewe. It is concluded that fetal skeletal muscle activity contributes to reduced amounts of oxygen in fetal arterial blood, although the mechanism by which this occurs has not yet been identified.

Determination of cerebral cortical blood flow: a thermal technique

A mathematical model for tissue thermodilution was developed to study cerebral cortical perfusion before and after controlled perfusion arrest. Cerebral cortical perfusion rates are readily determined by this method. A thermistor was introduced into the subdural space and secured in direct contact with the frontal cortex in 12 dogs on ketamine and gallamine anesthesia. A 22-gauge angiocath was placed in the right superior thyroid artery and directed into the carotid artery on the same side as the thermistor. The dogs were placed on cardiac bypass using a circuit from the right atrium to the pulmonary artery and a second circuit from the left ventricular apex to the left femoral artery. Arterial pressure, central venous pressure (CVP), intracranial pressure (ICP), and left atrial pressure (LAP) were monitored directly. A heat exchanger was used to maintain a constant blood temperature of 37 C in the output of the left side bypass circuit. Thermal flow curves were generated in the cerebral cortex by injecting 2 to 4 cc of cold saline into the common carotid artery through the injection catheter. Preliminary evaluation of this flow method in comparison to radioactive microspheres indicates that this method can be used in a reliable and reproducible fashion to determine cerebral cortical blood flow.

Heterogeneity of interstitial fluid space demonstrated by simultaneous kinetic analysis of the distribution and elimination of inulin and gallamine

The kinetics of inulin and gallamine were studied after simultaneous i.v. injection in anesthetized dogs. The distribution of both compounds in extracellular fluid space was characterized by a three-compartment model in which the mean central compartment blood volume of 1.37 liters was identical with the expected value. The two peripheral compartments of the model appear to represent rapid and slow equilibrating interstitial fluid compartments. A mammillary model structure was selected in which intercompartmental clearance corresponds to transcapillary exchange. Previous studies indicate that inulin and smaller hydrophyllic molecules diffuse across capillary walls at rates proportional to their respective free water diffusion coefficients. For the ratio of the transcapillary permeability coefficients of inulin and gallamine to equal their free water diffusion coefficient ratio of 5.34 +/- 0.02 (+/- S.D)., it appears that the sum of blood flow to the fast and slow interstitial fluid compartments is less than cardiac output. When this assumption is made, blood flow to fast equilibrating interstitial fluid is estimated to be 39% of cardiac output, in agreement with previous measurements of splanchnic blood flow. This supports the hypothesis that the fast equilibrating interstitial fluid space is supplied by porous splanchnic capillaries that lack a continuous investment of basement membrane.

Gallamine blue staining of DNA in mammalian tissue sections: analyses of in situ absorption spectra

This paper reports on the use of gallamine blue (GB), a dye of the oxazine group, as a specific stain for DNA in animal tissue nuclei. The dye can be used as 1% aqueous solution in boiling distilled water at ph 1.0 to 1.5. Not only this, GB dye-reagent can also be prepared after dispersing the dye with concentrated sulphuric acid and then dissolving the friable mass in 1% cobalt chloride and then used to stain nuclei at very low pH. Although the dye does not contain any primary amino group in its molecules, it can be used as aqueous solution or as dye-reagent to stain DNA-aldehyde molecules in tissue sections which are hydrolysed in 6N HCl at 28 degrees C or at 40 degrees C for 15 and 5 min, respectively. Following staining of the DNA-aldehyde molecules, the preparations cannot be treated with SO2 water, since this treatment brings about complete leaching of the dye from the nuclei. It has, therefore, been concluded that GB staining of DNA-aldehyde molecules is due to a modified Feulgen reaction in which tertiary amino group may be involved. Moreover, GB in an aqueous solution or as a dye-reagent can be used to stain DNA-phosphate groups in tissue sections from which RNA has been extracted selectively with cold concentrated phosphoric acid. Sections from which RNA has been extracted and then hydrolysed in 6N HCl at 28 degrees C or at 40 degrees C for 15 and 5 min, respectively, can also be stained with this dye. The absorption spectra of nuclei stained following the various procedures have been presented. The paper contains a discussion on the implications of all these findings.