Our previous histochemical and ultrastructural studies have identified, in human catecholamine neurons, abundant spherical acidophilic protein bodies (pb), which originate from regular mitochondria, retaining their double membrane. In locus coeruleus (LC) neurons, pb have somatodendritic distribution and are unequivocal storage vesicles for noradrenaline, as demonstrated by immunolocalization of Dopamine-β-Hydroxylase. In the present study, in order to reinforce the identity of pb as monoamine storage sites in human LC, and to assess their potential of somatodendritic release, we studied the subcellular immunolocalization of chromogranin A (CgA) and vesicular monoamine transporter 2 (VMAT2), given the fact that their localization defines the vesicles capacity of filling with monoamine and hence exocytotic release. The data provided in the present study, demonstrate the novel ultrastructural immunolocalization of both CgA and VMAT2 in protein bodies, supporting their involvement in somatodendritic storage and release of noradrenaline in human LC. Since the molecular mechanism of LC somatodendritic exocytosis remains largely elusive, the present study may shed light to a better understanding of this mechanism.

Studies of peripheral blood leukocytes of schizophrenic patients have shown in electron microscopy (EM) that decondensation of the chromatin constitutes a biological marker indicating increased genomic expression. Since this increase depends on chromatin relaxation by dissociation of lysine-rich histone H1 from nucleosomes, with exposure of arginine residues of core histones, the ratio of arginine to lysine residues in each nucleus represents a reliable measure of activation. Lysine- and arginine-rich proteins are demonstrable in light microscopy (LM), differentially, as yellow and black, respectively, with the ammoniacal silver reaction (ASR). Application of ASR on leukocyte pellets before they are dehydrated and embedded in epoxy resins gives reliable results in semithin sections. In thin sections the ASR method localizes only the amino acid arginine by forming deposits of electron-opaque particles, visualized in the EM. Leukocytes of 12 first-episode schizophrenic patients and 5 controls were used. Light micrographs of the semithin sections were inserted in a personal computer. The percentage of lysine and arginine was measured in 300 nuclei per subject. Morphometry showed that lymphocytes of schizophrenic patients have increased ratios of arginine to lysine, compared to controls, indicating activation; neutrophils of the patients have even a higher ratio, indicating an abnormal condition of the genome. Chromatin conformational changes are also evident by phosphotungstic acid hematoxylin (PTAH) block staining, which reveals condensed chromatin as an electron-lucent area in the nuclei, and decondensed chromatin as an electron-dense area. Because decondensed chromatin is a biological marker of schizophrenia, the efficacy of these methods to demonstrate this particular state offers a tool for early diagnosis, since first-episode schizophrenic patients have a better prognosis when treatment is started promptly, at the beginning of the disease.