Histoenzymic studies on thyroid gland of neonatal buffalo calves

Abstract

The present study was conducted on thyroid glands of4 buffalo calves below 1 month of age to study the histoenzymic localization in thyroid glands. The cryostat sections of 10-20 ~ thickness from fresh unfixed thyroid tissues were cut at -20°C and incubated with different substrates to demonstrate the histochemical localization of various phosphatases, oxidoreductases and esterase. The study revealed a moderate to strong localization of acid phosphatase in the follicular cells whereas alkaline phosphatase and adenosine triphosphatase were localized in the blood vessels. The activity of dehydrogenases (succinate dehydrogenase, lactate dehydrogenase and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase) was moderate to strong and of diaphoreses (NADH and NADPH) was strong to intense in the follicular and parafollicular cells. The 17B hydroxy steroid dehydrogenase, monoamine oxidase and cytochrome oxidase were weakly localized whereas acetyl cholinesterase was only localized in the nerve endings. The moderate to strong activity of these enzymes reflects the physiological activity of the follicular and parafollicular cells of the thyroid gland during neonatal period.