Changes of Structure and Lipin Content of Central Nervous System in Ether Anesthesia.

The present investigation is part of a study of the reaction of the myelin sheaths of the nerve fibers under different pathological conditions. In order to avoid the criticism brought forward against histological changes described in earlier publications, 1 material from normal animals and those which had been under ether narcosis was fixed, embedded and cut jointly, and sections of both were mounted and stained on the same slide. Changes in the arrangement of the Nissl bodies of anterior horn cells of the spinal cord could be noticed after 2 hours of narcosis. The bodies seemed to be broken into finer particles and compared with normal cells the design was more diffuse. The myelin sheaths in sections through the spinal cord and its roots (light-green-fuchsin and hematoxylin-iron stains) were distended and thinned out as by compression. The axis cylinders seemed to be compressed by the same fluid which distended the myelin sheaths.

For the study of the lipins a suggestion of Maclean 2 was transferred into practical application. The method gave workable results. It could be demonstrated that the acetone soluble substances increase considerably during narcosis, relatively more in the white matter than in the gray. This would be in accordance with the finding of lipemia in the blood during narcosis (Reicher 3 ). At the same time the alcohol soluble part was diminished, most in the gray, less in the white matter and in the spinal cord. The substances which can be precipitated from the alcohol extract by acetone (raw lipins) were diminished most in the gray, less in the white, and no changes occurred in the spinal cord. The substances which can be precipitated from the alcohol extract by acetone (raw lipins) were diminished most in the gray, less in the white, and no changes occurred in the spinal cord.