| Abstrakt: |
The acetylcholine esterase content of 50 brain tumors, and of 13 brain lesions not neoplastic in character, has been determined by the pharmacological method previously described.1All material was obtained immediately following removal in the neurosurgical operating room. The tissue to be examined for acetylcholine esterase content was exposed to the action of no drugs. The acetylcholine esterase activity (Q.CHE.) was determined as the number of milligrams of acetylcholine iodide hydrolized by 100 mg of tissue dry weight in one hour at 37°C and pH 7.61.The histologic or pathologic structure of the tissue resected at operation and examined for Q.CHE. content was established by multiple sections, fixed in Cajal's formalin-ammonium-bromide solution, and after the appropriate time of fixation stained with, (1) Penfield's second modification of Rio-Hortega's silver sodium carbonate stain, (2) Rio-Hortega's silver lithium carbonate stain, and (3) Cajal's gold chloride sublimate method. Other material fixed in Zenker's fixative was stained with hematoxylin and eosin and with phosphotungstic hematoxylin.As indicated in Table I, 8 tumors of the astroblastic and astrocytic types occurring in the cerebellum had an average Q.CHE. of 18.8. One tumor of this type occurring in the cerebrum had a Q.CHE. of 18.2. but 2 others listed as astrocytomas had a Q.CHE. of 0.8 and 1.9 respectively. However, these last 2 were clearly of a different histologic character from the first and may very well be examples of what Scherer2refers to as “malignant dedifferentiation of an astroblastoma into a glioblastoma.” Histological diagnosis in such cases is notably difficult and uncertain. It is also ot interest to recall to that a significant clinical difference is recognized between the astrocytomas of the cerebrum and those of the cerebellum. Tumors of the astroblastic and astrocytic type occuring in the cerebellum are found chiefly in the children and young adults. |
