Electron microscopic demonstration of intracelluar promethazine accumulation sites by a precipitation technique: application to the cerebellar cortex of the mouse.

A method is described that allows electron microscopic identification of the phenothiazine neuroleptic promethazine after supravital intracardiac injection of high drug concentrations (greater than or equal to 3 %). The cerebellar cortex of the mouse was used for the investigation. This procedure is based on simultaneous fixation of drug and tissue by immersion in a paraformaldehyde-glutaraldehyde solution with the addition of phosphomolybdic acid. The electron microscopic investigation revealed that the drug could easily be identified as an electron-dense precipitate. Subpopulations of neurons exhibited a higher affinity for the drug than others, but no preference for any nerve cell type …