KIDNEY 



131 



KINNEY'S METHOD 



Am. J. Physiol., 1941, 134, 562-595. The 

 micro collection of fluid from single 

 tubules is as the authors state a direct 

 continuation of the researches of A.N. 

 Richards. See Oliver, J., Harvej^ Lec- 

 tures, 1944-45, 40, 102-155. 



Vital staining of renal tubules is usu- 

 ally carried out by techniques not re- 

 quiring special adaptation to the kidney, 

 see Vital Staining. But the procedure 

 employed by Oliver, J., Bloom, F. and 

 MacDowell, M., J. Exper. Med., 1941, 

 73, 141-160 deserves mention because it 

 gives a clear demonstration that the cells 

 of abnormal proximal convoluted tubules 

 can be marked by their inability to con- 

 centrate trypan blue which consequently 

 stains the tubule wall diffusely. This is 

 beautifully illustrated in colors. Micro- 

 scopic observations, having a close rela- 

 tion to function, are easily made on the 

 kidneysof lower forms. See the account 

 of contractility of the ciliated necks of 

 renal tubules in Necturus by Lucas, A.M. 

 and White, H. L., Anat. Rec, 1933, 

 57,7-11. 



The study of renal tubules present 

 in tissue cultures is useful up to a certain 

 point in the study of function. Thus 

 Chambers, R. and Cameron, G., Radiol- 

 ogy, 1941, 37, 186-193 have found that 

 susceptibility to x-rays is increased when 

 a secretory stimulant is added but that 

 in cultures it is distinctly less than in 

 vivo. See references accompanying this 

 paper. 



A method has been devised by Crab- 

 tree, C. E., Endocrinology, 1941, 29, 

 197-203 of measuring by a differential 

 count the number of Bowman's capsules 

 made of cuboidal as contrasted with 

 squamous cells. The count appears to 

 provide an index of age and sex variations 

 in normal mice and of the influence of 

 testosterone proprionate on castrated 

 mice. 



Methods for estimating the distribu- 

 tion of enzymes in the tissue components 

 of the rabbit's kidney are given by Weil, 

 L. and Jennings, R. K., J. Biol. Chem., 

 1941, 139, 421-432. They depend on 

 topographic correlation between dis- 

 tribution of cell types in 15 n frozen sec- 

 tions and decomposition of substrates. 

 The techniques are capable of demon- 

 strating catheptic, aminopoly-peptidase 

 and esterase activities in all of the epi- 

 thelial components and of showing that 

 the cells of the proximal and distal con- 

 voluted tubules are about twice as 

 active enzymatically as those of the 

 ascending and descending loops of Henle 

 and about 4 times as active as the cells 

 of the collecting tubules. Amylase and 

 dipeptidase activities can also be local- 



ized and expressed quantitatively in 

 relative terms. 



Techniques capable of revealing very 

 interesting data on the shape of cells of 

 the proximal tubule have been devised 

 and employed by Foote, J. J. and Graf- 

 flin, A. L., Am. J. Anat., 1942, 70, 1-20. 

 They can probably be emploj'ed to ad- 

 vantage in different functional states 

 and to other than renal cells. 



Methods have been elaborated for 

 measurement of the renal filtration sur- 

 face and data have been supplied for the 

 albino rat (Kirkman, H. and Stowell, 

 R. E., Anat. Rec, 1942, 82, 373-389). 

 The original paper should be consulted. 



pH determinations can be made as 

 described by Emmel, V. M., Anat. Rec. 



1940, 78, 361-377 by means of a capillary 

 glass electrode (Voegtlin, C. and Kahler, 

 H., Science, 1932, 75, 362) and a vacuum 

 tube potentiometer (Hill, S. E., Science, 

 1931, 73, _ 529). It is significant that 

 increase in acidity of the renal cortex 

 immediately follows ligation of the renal 

 artery and that the mitochondria re- 

 spond by enspherulation and fragmenta- 

 tion within 6 minutes. The kidney is 

 an organ in which mitochondria must be 

 examined with the utmost promptness. 

 But Fuller, R. II., Arch. Path., 1941, 

 32, 556-568 could find no relation in a 

 rather large number of cases studied 

 between age, hours postmortem and 

 cause of death (except renal disease) 

 and quantity and distribution of stain- 

 able lipoid. 



For application to proximal convo- 

 luted tubules in phlorizin glycuresis of 

 the Ivabat and Furth procedure for al- 

 kaline phosphatase see Kritzler, Ti. A. 

 and Gutmau, A. B., Am. J. Physiol., 



1941, 134, 94-101. See Phosphatase. 

 King's Carbol-Thionin stain for Nissl bodies 



(Addison in McClung, p. 450). Stain 

 paraffin or celloidin sections, 2-3 min., 

 in sat. thionin in 1% aq. carbolic acid. 

 Then wash quickly in aq. dcst., differen- 

 tiate in 95% alcohol. Pass through 

 equal parts absolute alcohol and chloro- 

 form to xjdol and mount in balsam. 

 Kinney's Method for staining reticulum 

 (Kinney, E. M., Arch. Path., 1928, 5, 

 283). Fix 18 hrs. in 1 gm. sodium sul- 

 phantimonate dissolved in 100 cc. 4% 

 formalin immediately before using. 

 Imbed in paraffin, but more than 1 or 2 

 hrs. in xylol or cedar oil will remove the 

 dark brown stain from the reticulum. 

 Hematoxylin is contraindicated as coun- 

 tcrstain because it obscures the color of 

 the reticulum. Other ordinary counter- 

 stains can be used. This method works 

 well even with autopsy material. It is 

 recommended particularly for kidney 



