A Quick Supra-vital Staining Method for the Retinal Müller-Fiber Network under Normal and Pathological Conditions

Introduction

　The extremely high NADH tetrazolium oxi—doreductase activity of the retinal Muller fibersunder normal conditions can be used to demon—strate the entire structure of the cell, includingfine processes which extend into the complexof the neuronal cells, by means of specific andnon-specific NADH tetrazolium oxidoreductasecoenzyme staining^4.9.10）．　Furthermore, overallcommensurate deposition of diformazan granuleshas been well documented in most pathologicalconditions in which the Müller cells survived^4〜7）．The aim of this brief communication is to de—scribe a simple method for observation of themetabolically very important Müller cell network．This technique consists of spread-mounting wholeflat retinae with the substrate for NADH oxi—doreductase．